


Bare Necessities

by Reyxa



Series: Bare Necessities Universe [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, Alternate Universe - Art School, F/M, I'm Sorry, Naked Adrien, Read at Your Own Risk, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, lots of sin, maybe explicit later???, they're still awkward little muffins though bless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-05-15 15:52:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 53,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5791540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyxa/pseuds/Reyxa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Art School AU where Adrien is the nude model in Marinette's human figure class. Major sin warning but it's more awkward than sexy. Definitely not for little ears... or eyes I guess...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> So this is inspired by Daughter of Smoke and Bone because the main character's ex boyfriend waltzes into her art class and is the nude model in her class and the word model immediately makes me think of Adrien and then... naked Adrien happened... I'm sorry.
> 
> Update 01/12/18: hello rey of 2018 here! clearly there are some factual inaccuracies in this fic. ive never taken an actual human figures class or a class that used a model. ive never worked with oil paints (theyre scary and i love acrylics).   
> please look past them as you read. this fic is two years old and im not fixing the dumb shit 16 year old rey did. frankly 18 year old rey thinks this fic sucks ass and theres a lot i would love to fix but im moving on.  
> thank you for the support and love i never expected it so thank you!!  
> enjoy!

Marinette’s face was comfortably smushed into her soft pillow when her alarm began its screaming in her ears. She groaned groggily, arm flailing until it found purchase on the little button. Unfortunately, her flailing had some casualties.

Tikki squealed as she was pushed off the bed by Marinette’s oppressive hand.

“‘M sorry, Tikki,” Marinette mumbled sleepily, blue eyes barely able to be opened.

“You have to get up for school now, Marinette.” Tikki giggled, the kwami always a perfect morning person- kwami- whatever.

She groaned but slid her feet out from beneath the warm haven of her covers. She loved art school but an 8 am class was a bad, bad idea. At least it was human figure, one of her favorites. Since her years of sketching out designs in high school and dreaming of turning her sloppy sketches into realities of fabric. Graduating high school, she couldn’t help herself, she joined an art school. She was always excited to go, every class held her attention in ways high school physics never could. But an 8 am class…

She dragged herself into the bathroom freshening up quickly. Foregoing the pigtails she’d trademarked in high school, she brushed her hair in a few quick strokes. She took the bag she’d packed meticulously the night before, the leather strap comfortable on her shoulder, before she tucked Tikki into the little pocket.

She rushed out into the Parisian morning air, the rosy glow of sunrise still washing the buildings in rays of gold. With the chilled morning air scratching at her skin, she left for school.

~

Adrien was an idiot. A real, actual idiot.

He knew he was better than this but _they_ contacted _him_. _They_ breathily squealed about it, _they_ begged him and begged him for it. His golden heart just couldn’t say no.

But there was more, much much more.

His father had finally let him off his leash, no more forcing him into modelling jobs. It was freeing and he was honestly excited the first few days. Unfortunately, this meant he needed to book his own jobs without his father doing it all for him.

It was _hard_. He needed the money, too. College wasn’t easy money anymore, even if his father was still paying for most of it, much to Adrien’s surprise.

Yes, Adrien was an idiot. A _certified_ idiot.

~

Rushing into class at 8:06 am wasn’t Marinette’s best moment. The entire class, already seated in front of easels, graphite pencils in hand, turned their eyes on her, the teacher glaring.

_Some things never change._ She mused as she blushed, trying to get to her seat without too much ruckus.

She settled into her seat easily enough. She quickly opened the zip to check if Tikki was still okay before finding her pencil sets, brushes, and her sketchbok.

Marinette sighed as she stared at her blank easel, her pencil fitted comfortably in hand. The feeling of wood between her thumb and forefinger, the blank infinite paper before her, it felt like home. She never felt quite as content as she did in art class.

“Today we have a new model to sketch. Remember, students, sketch to likeness but don’t forget your own twist on the art. Art is yours, you just have to grasp it by the reigns and let it carry you away.” Her teacher breathed, lashes fluttering. She was a dramatic woman but Marinette liked her enough. She had always imagined the strict teacher that told you everything must be perfect, draw it exactly or don’t draw it at all. Her teacher was nothing like that and she appreciated it.

Marinette sighed, the barest traces of sleep still left to fog up her mind. She rearranged her pencils, her thoughts drifting to the model who was soon to walk through the door.

She lifted her pencil as the door creaked open, she stared at her blank easel and took a deep breath. Bringing models in was always helpful especially to her dreams of fashion. Human figure was focusing on details, ones that she would miss otherwise. The only problems she had was that the model was always _naked._

It wouldn’t really be a problem but Marinette couldn’t help the blush that crept up her neck. Of course, everyone’s state of dress was their own business but Marinette wasn’t always comfortable with a _phallus_ in her _face_. But assignments were assignments and Marinette would dutifully stare right into that phallus and sketch it as quickly as possible.

The door opened fully and she closed her eyes for a moment, steeling herself. She opened them, lifting her eyes from her paper. Her pencil clattered to the floor.

~

Adrien, for the first time in a very very long time, was nervous. No one, _no one_ , had seen this much of him. Of course, as puberty hit, photographers tried to get as many articles of clothing off him as possible but he and his father both agreed, for once, that he should stay as clothed as he possible could. He almost grinned, what would his father say now?

He steeled himself, his hand on the doorknob. His other hand tightened on the bag he was holding, Plagg tucked safely inside. The door creaked as it opened. He avoided the students’ watchful eyes, glancing only at the teacher. All he could hear was the sound of his blood rushing past his ears. The sound of a pencil falling to the floor was the only sound that penetrated it.

The teacher, a woman of short stature and dark skin, smiled encouragingly in greeting. “Class,” she began, grabbing everyone’s attention. “This is our model for today.”

His name, she promised, would not be revealed by her. Unfortunately, his face was on enough billboards to be easily recognized by anyone in Paris.

“Once you remove your robes, just drape yourself across the seat in any comfortable way. Try not to be too stiff, relaxed muscles are harder to capture, which is something the class needs to work on, and you don’t want to strain yourself.” she smiled at him in a motherly fashion.

He exhaled, steeling himself and removing the robes, exposing his naked body to the class. The room wasn’t cold but goosebumps rose from his skin, his face, he was sure, was hopelessly red. He draped, as the teacher said, himself across the small couch, muscles relaxed. He set his bag down near him, Plagg’s soft snickers only able to be heard by him. He bit his lip and looked out at the students.

He came into contact with blue eyes, familiar ones at that. Her face was red, her eyes bright with surprise, her grip on her pencil was steel. Her hair was loose, not tucked into cute pigtails, but it was her, he was sure. You don’t spend years sitting in front of someone without being able to recognize them a few years down the road. Besides that, he had seen her flustered enough to be well acquainted with her pink cheeks and wide blue eyes. Yes, sitting directly in front of him was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

~

Marinette didn’t usually like using swears but when _Adrien Agreste’s eyes_ met hers, she knew she was fucked.

If her face was red with normal nude models, with Adrien her face had literally become a tomato and she was sure she’d walk around with a tomato head for the rest of her life.

Adrien, whose green eyes met hers. Adrien, who was blushing profusely. Adrien, who was completely naked.

The worst part was that he just kept staring at her. His green eyes, as wide and panicked as he was, were trained on her like it was his job.  
Her perfectly sharpened 2H pencil snapped as she realized she had been pressing too hard on the paper. She was staring back at him, complete shock written like a tattoo across her face.

_Why is Adrien Agreste here of all places? Why does god hate me?_ Oh. Alya would have fun with this piece of information.

Sharpening her pencil quickly, relieved to avert her eyes from his, she set out to sketching. Her hand, she realized, remembered her mindless sketching of him in class. But that boy was not this boy. Surely she would have noticed the strong jaw, the high cheekbones, the abs. Adrien Agreste had always been beautiful but now... 

She couldn’t recall, she realized as she stopped her sketching, the last time she had seen him in person. Graduation party, maybe? Those times in the summer when Alya dragged her along into hangout sessions with Nino and Adrien?

Shaking her head, she glanced up at him, having to meet those summery eyes again. She couldn’t believe she had to endure this.

In a few quick strokes, she had drawn the quick outline of his limbs along with the shape of his face. There was one organ missing but she was sure she could wait to draw it in, during the details in a few moments. She sighed, touching her face to inconspicuously check the level of heat that lingered there.

This would be a long class.

~

He was supposed to look straight and not move. That’s what Adrien was told. But of course, the world hated him and it was Marinette who was seated in his direct line of sight.

He never minded Marinette, she was fun to hang out with when she wasn’t stammering or turning into a puddle. She was very shy, sometimes it was cute, he wouldn’t lie, but it was also _painful._

She had always been pretty comfortable with everyone else. She brought them little gifts on their birthdays, she was still quiet and shy, of course, but less so. She hadn’t gotten him a gift one year, he remembered. He also remembered that Chloe never got a gift. He had hoped it wasn’t for the same reason.

But here was shy, sweet, quiet Marinette, sitting right in front of his _staff._ It was worse when she looked up from her drawing to stare at him again.

Of course, it was with an artist’s eye, nothing really sexual about it. Then again, he couldn’t imagine anything sexual coming from _Marinette._

He chided himself, first of all, they were both older now. They were no longer 14 year olds cringing at a diagram of a uterus in health class. They both had matured into adults and sex was… a reality…? Anyway, second of all, Marinette’s sex life was _none_ of Adrien’s business and just the thought of it stained his cheeks red. As if they weren’t already.

As his thoughts drifted, distracting him from Marinette’s gaze, he realized how tired he was. He smiled, remembering why exactly he had stayed up late and who exactly had him up that late.

An akuma attack had struck in the middle of the night. Ladybug had pinged him. It woke him up from his slumber because it was his lady and he was at her beck and call. It didn’t take long to transform and meet her, the most time was spent coaxing Plagg out of his sleep with the promise of his eternal favorite, camembert.

“Good evening, my lady.” he had bowed, eyebrows waggling.

She snorted. “There’s an akuma rampaging down at the park.” she said by way of greeting.

“Any idea what happened at 1 am to piss off someone that much?” he grinned.

She looked beautiful. The Parisian lights shut off moments ago, conservation and all that. But the stars lit her blue eyes and her dark hair blew back in the light wind of the night. He sighed now, as he remembered it. She had looked tired too. Dark circles weren’t visible as their masks covered them but the sleepiness in her eyes was nothing to be concealed. 

Being with her still excited him, after all these years. She was exciting and beautiful and his friend. His lady. How many years was it now? 7? 8? He had sighed, 8 years of fighting akuma at her side.

Of course, Hawkmoth still hadn’t given up. In fact, now akumas were more frequent. He must have more time on his hands. Chat Noir thought.

“-Chat?” Ladybug shoved him. There was no aggression, of course. Her eyes were bright with humor and bare traces of annoyance.

“Sorry, my lady, I was too lost in your eyes to hear.” he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what happened but we should probably get there soon before anyone gets hurt.”

He nodded before breaking out into a grin. “I’ll race you.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “The park isn’t that far.”

He shrugged.

“What’s in it for me?” she smiled. 

_Oh. She’s in a good mood_. “I’ll kiss you if you win.” he winked.

“That’s more for you than for me, I’m sure. If I win, no cat puns for this entire meetup. If I am anywhere in your voice range, no cat puns.” she smirked.

He gasped, a hand pressed to his chest, mocking being hurt. “You wound me, my lady, I thought you loved my puns. Alright, if I win, then I get to kiss you. Only if you’re comfortable with that, of course.” he added it as an afterthought. Kissing her against her will didn’t sound at all fun or exciting. It just sounded very… manipulative.

She thought it over, her eyes turned to the direction of the park as if she could see the akuma. “You’re on.” she said before swinging away with the help of her yoyo, leaving him in the dust.

He had laughed, shooting after her. She may be able to swing but he could run. He leaped over buildings, dodged obstacles, and was nearly hit in the face with bird poop before he caught up to her. The park in his line of sight, he pole vaulted himself, winking at her as he shot past.

He got there first, delighted to see she wasn’t too upset about it. 

“So when do I get my kiss, my lady?” he purred.

“After we get rid of this akuma, you dumb cat.” she rolled her eyes at him. He grinned.

Moments passed, both of them leaping onto the akuma. One cataclysm and one lucky charm later, the akuma was cleansed along with the rebuilding of what it had damaged.

Their miraculouses beeping insistently, he had grabbed her as she bid the butterfly goodbye. He had _kissed her_. She had kissed him _back_. It was only a moment but it was one he had already looked back on multiple times in the past seven hours.

Returning to the present, he sighed. Ladybug had become more and more affectionate, for lack of a better term, with him. She laughed with him, rolled her eyes at his puns, touched him in the form of gentle shoves or careful brushes of her fingertips.

He sighed as his thoughts returned to Marinette, who was looking at him oddly. His memory of Ladybug made Chat Noir resurface as he grinned at her, blushingly of course, for that little Adrien flare.

She, unsurprisingly, blushed. Hard. But she smiled at him timidly. His heart warmed at the gesture.

~

Marinette had to stare at him, she told herself. How else was she supposed to draw him properly.

She was content with the way she’d drawn the features of his face, which was a first. _Lots of firsts today,_ she mused.

She cringed, she had drawn in the details of everything shoulders up. She was headed into dangerous territory, chest territory. Blush spread across her face as she looked up at him, not meeting his eyes but glancing at his chest.

He was literally draped across the couch in a modern image of classic art. His back was pressed against the cushion, one arm behind his head, the other at his side. His head was tilted to the left, his hair falling into his eyes. His legs were open, both bent, one knee in the air the other on its side. He was all muscles and sharp edges. Again, she was fucked.

She tried to capture every groove of his skin as quickly as possible but it was hard. This would have to be her worst drawing ever which was a shame, really.

Moments passed, her pencil scratching the paper in quick strokes until she was sure she’d captured enough. Skipping over the one organ, she was denying its existence for now, she carefully sketched in the hard muscles of his legs. She could feel the intensity of his stare, making her blush harder.

It was time for the dreaded, well, penis. Marinette closed her eyes, pressing her forehead to the easel and taking deep breaths.

~

It was awful, feeling her blue gaze on his exposed body.

It had started with a quick glance of his whole form and then shifted to her eyes locking with his for a very long time. He had to strain to keep his face from twitching or moving. Moments had passed until her eyes shifted to his chest, his arms, his shoulders. Skipping over his deep-v diver, her eyes were at his legs.

Currently, Marinette was taking deep breaths, her head pressed against her paper. _Oh no._

He knew what was coming and he prayed to every god that has ever existed that his excalibur would behave. His heart started racing in his chest and he decided that this was officially the worst day of his life. A shame, really, since the first few hours were really nice.

He steeled himself, his fists clenching momentarily before the eyes that held the entire sky in them turned to his face. She was blushing, the smattering of freckles across her face disappearing. An apology in her eyes, they lowered to his groin.

He had to squeeze his eyes shut and force it not to twitch or harden or do anything stupid. Because this was Marinette, Marinette who was sweet and kind and lovely and did not need to see his penis.

He got breaks from her gaze when it turned back to her paper to sketch momentarily before returning to him.

It was moments of agony.

He was pretty sure the only other people who had seen his flesh tower were his mother (probably), his father (probably), and Plagg on multiple, awkward occasions.

He had just never had time for a girlfriend serious enough to get there. There were girls of course, mostly models. They were nice enough but his heart belonged to his lady and nothing could change that.

“Alright, class we’ll continue with this model next class. Seeing as you all have mostly completed your drawings but haven’t moved on to painting, we’ll start that next class. Dismissed.” the teacher, who was seated in a desk by the door, called.

The students sighed, putting their pencils down. A warm chatter rose from the side of the room. Marinette dropped her pencils into their cases and picked up her sketchbook before closing it. 

Adrien immediately relieved his position, surprised to see his muscles stiff as he slipped the robe back on. Sending the teacher a brief smile, he went back into the room in which he had undressed earlier and redressed. Running a hand through his hair, he checked for Plagg.

“So how’d it go?” Plagg snickered.

He sighed. “Marinette was in the class.” he whispered.

Plagg choked on his cheese. “Marinette? As in the girl who could never finish a sentence around you? That Marinette?”

Adrien rolled his eyes before nodding.

Plagg laughed, loud, overly dramatic laughter.

“Shut up, Plagg.” he closed the pocket, Plagg’s laughter still faintly able to be heard.

~

Marinette was relieved that the class was over. Well she was until Adrien came out of the dressing room and headed straight for her.

There were enough girls in the class who, well, had eyes. Every single one of them watched his every move, blushes and whispers scattered across the room.

But Adrien didn’t even spare them a glance. He walked right up to her seat, towering over her with a small smile and a light blush. She flushed.

“Hi, Marinette.” he said kindly.

“H-Hi.” she stood up hastily, his chin banged against her head. “Sorry, sorry!”

He chuckled, rubbing his chin. “I’m fine. How are you?”

“Your chin is a little pointy but I’m-” she paused her rambling, noticing how his eyes glittered laughingly. “I mean, I’m great. You?”

“Could be better.” he admitted.

“W-why are you here? I mean, you can be wherever you want to be but why aren’t you, um, modelling or…” she trailed off, quitting before she embarrassed herself further.

The bell rang, dismissing the students. They rose up around them and filed out the door, heading to their next classes.

“W-we should catch up sometime. Over coffee.” he smiled.

“I’m available this afternoon.” she whispered.

His smile widened. He passed her his phone. “I’m holding you to that. I’ll text you so we can figure out details if you put your number in my contacts.”

She nodded, quickly typed in her numbe and labelling her contact with her first and last name and a few heart emojis. She’d run before he noticed. Passing him his phone back, it was too late to run anyway, his hand was on her shoulder.

“Wait, I need a contact picture.” he chuckled.

She almost rolled her eyes. He was one of those people. He quickly snapped a selfie of the two of them, Marinette trying to make her smile not look intensely awkward.

“Okay bye Adrien it was nice catching up gotta go.” she ran out the door, her goodbye melting into a string of nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go, 3.6k words of pure sin. I'll try to update soon, it's been a while since I've gotten excited about a fic and I'm like really excited about this one so it might end up really long or it might not. Also I am currently recovering from writer's block so I'm sorry if the story is a little choppy. I hope you enjoyed it thank you!


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which literally nothing substantial happens but everyone's okay with it because there's fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I'd like to thank you all for a thousand hits and a hundred kudos! This fic gained a lot of attention that i wasn't expecting so I thought I'd show my appreciation with a fast update. Unfortunately, fast means not as good. I'm really not satisfied with this chapter, especially since it's like a thousand words shorter than the last one, but I think it's okay enough to post. So enjoy!

“What do you want to order? It’s on me.” he smiled at her brightly, making Marinette heart flutter. 

She hadn’t managed to get him out of her head, her mind especially intent on showing her every moment she had had to look at his body. It didn’t help that he’d texted her all through her classes, trying to figure out a time that worked for both of them.

“Oh no, please put that away.” she gestured to the black leather wallet he was pulling out of his pocket. He was, fortunately or unfortunately maybe, fully clothed now. He had forgone his usual attire of a black shirt and white button down unbuttoned over it for a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, a grey knit beanie sitting on his golden hair.

“Marinette,” he put an hand on her shoulder. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you pay?”

She almost snorted. She was pretty sure etiquette was out of the window, considering the circumstances of this morning on the matter of his… lap rocket. But she let him pay, mostly because her tongue had been welded to the roof of her mouth, rendering her speechless.

He payed for their drinks, his a coffee with cream and two spoons of sugar, hers a warm mug of green tea. They took their seats across from each other.

The place was nice, a cute little coffee shop by her school with bookshelves and velvet cushions. It was small, only room enough for five tables but it was cozy and charming. She did most of her homework here, at the very table they were seated at. The one by the window that let the sun shine down on them in the warmer months and gave a perfect view to a winter wonderland in the cooler months. It was on campus as well so she could meet him as quickly as possible, in a totally not creepy or overeager way.

“So,” he began conversationally. “What have you been up to?”

She flushed. “M-mostly just school. I’ve been working on a few designs but I don’t have time to finish them. I moved out of my parents’ bakery a few months after graduation. What about you?”

The question of why he was in her human figures class still hadn’t come up yet, she had a feeling it would lead to an awkwardness between them which would burn in her mind for days.

“College, studying physics. And a lot of modelling. It fills up my schedule.” he blushed at the last one.

She nodded, drinking from her mug.

“Marinette,” he sighed. “I should probably apologize.”

“What for?” she whispered into her mug, heart picking up its pace.

“If I had known, you’d be in the class I-” Marinette cut him off.

She shook her head. “I-I’m used to nude models, it’s art. And what jobs you take are your business. Besides… if you hadn’t shown up in class, we probably wouldn’t have talked again for a few more years.”

Her eyes had been trained on the table as she spoke. She lifted them now, scanning his face. He was grinning, wide and childish. “You haven’t changed at all, Marinette.”

“What do y-you mean?”

She didn’t get to hear what he meant because an akuma had torn the roof off the nearest hall of the art institution. The akuma began raging down the street, a canvas and paintbrush in hand. They pointed the paintbrush at a pedestrian. A ray of light shot from the hairs. As it hit, color leaked from the person, turning their clothes, hair, and skin to grey.

“You want less color? You want a grey scale painting? I’ll give you a grey scale painting, in fact, I’ll paint the whole city grey!” the akuma threw their head back and laughed.

Marinette was getting up hastily, ready to get Adrien out of the way before he got hurt. But it was Adrien lifting her up off the chair, his eyes determined and bright. He ran her out the door and past the hall, running quite a distance before leaving her in a small bookstore where she got most of her art theory textbooks. 

“Stay here, Marinette. I’ll find you when the akuma is gone.” He began leaving but she grabbed his arm.

“You should stay here, too, it’s not safe, Adrien.” Having him stay here would make it hard for her to transform but she’d rather have him safe.

He flashed her a quick grin. “I’ll be fine.” He was out of her grasp and out the door before any more words of protest could be thrown at him, and she had _millions_ of them.

Sighing, she lost herself in the tall shelves, sure there was no one around before helping Tikki out of her bag. “Time to transform, Tikki.”

“Again? We just had an attack last night!”

Marinette shrugged. “Spots on!” she called.

Tikki whizzed into her earrings. Her suit materialized around her, her yoyo at her hip and her mask’s presence reassuring her.

It was Ladybug who was rushing out of the bookstore and swinging herself back to the sight of the akuma.

“My lady! It has been such a long time since I’ve seen you, it’s felt like _eons._ ” Chat Noir materialized in front of her, green eyes glowing.

Seeing Chat again was somewhat of a relief. With Adrien sort of back in her life, she was getting too confused about where her heart was. She knew that somehow Chat had stolen it but Adrien had always had it. She was sure Chat’s gentle flirting would be a perfect reminder of what exactly had made her somehow consider Chat’s advances.

She snorted. “Have you seen the akuma?”

He nodded. “Saw it in my _purr_ -iphery.”

She rolled her eyes.

“It went that way.” he laughed, already running in the direction he had pointed.

She followed after him, swinging past. They found the akuma easily, the grey path it created was like breadcrumbs.

“Chat!” she called to him as he hit the akuma with his staff. “It’s the paintbrush, I’m sure of it!”

He nodded, twirling his staff with his fingers. She swung herself over the akuma, dropping onto its back. She hit the akuma’s hand with her yoyo and was flung into the nearest building.

“Ladybug!” she heard Chat’s faint call as she shook dust from her body.

Emerging again from rubble, she caught sight of the brush being aimed at Chat. “Duck!” she called, leaping over the rubble to knock him to the floor.

The color from the building behind them leaked out but she was too busy staring into Chat’s green gaze. They were panting in unison, chests rising and falling together. He winked.

She rolled off him, getting to her feet again.

“Lucky charm!” she called. A ladybug-patterned pair of handcuffs fell into her hands.

“That’s pretty kinky, my lady.” Chat winked, brushing dust off his leather-clad body.

She rolled her eyes at him before launching herself at the akuma. Hanging onto its arm for dear life, she managed to cuff its wrist to a pole. The akuma tried twisting its wrists to point the paintbrush at her but it had no leverage. Ladybug plucked the paintbrush from its hand, throwing it to the ground.

The black butterfly fluttered innocently out of the shards before Ladybug cleansed it. “Bye bye, little butterfly.” Ladybug smiled as it flew away.

She turned to Chat, finding him toeing the ground with his boot dejectedly. “Chat?”

His mood lifted as he glanced at her, his Cheshire smile perfect. “Yes, my lady?”

Her miraculous beeped. She shook her head, heart fluttering. She couldn’t ask him to… She needed a reminder of who had always been at her side. Who had always been there with his wide grins and glittering eyes. She needed… “I… uh, was wondering if you wouldn’t mind… kissing me again?” She cringed internally.

His hands were at her waist, pressing her against him. “Your miraculous is beeping.” He grinned.

“I have time.”

He kissed her again, this time, less frantic and rushed. Last night, their miraculouses rang insistently in unison but he had found her in the aftermath and pressed his lips against hers briefly. Now he kissed her carefully and mindfully.

She pulled away, rushing away as her miraculous beeped a third time. “Bye, kitty!” she called.

She couldn’t hear his reply.

~

Marinette wasn’t at the bookstore when Adrien got back which shot worry down his spine as he frantically rushed down the bookshelves, trying to find a familiar pair of blue eyes.

“Hello?” Marinette picked up his call.

“Marinette, I’m so glad you’re okay, why weren’t you in the bookstore?!” his heart’s rapid pace slowed a little at the sound of her voice. She didn’t sound hurt, either.

“Oh, I’m so sorry… something came up.” her tone was apologetic and impossibly soft.

“I’m just happy you didn’t get hurt,” he sighed. “We got interrupted, we should meet up again soon.”

Moments of silence ecked by. “Yeah, d-definitely. When are you available again?”

They talked for hours on the phone, as he walked home, as he unlocked the door to his apartment, as he threw his jacket on his couch and lied there while they spoke.

Now, as he was lying in his luxurious sea of bedsheets and pillows, he decided that he wanted Marinette in his life, despite the awkward circumstances that had to occur to allow them to meet again. Adrien had tried to apologize but Marinette, sweet and kind Marinette, always reassuring and looking out for others Marinette, brushed his apologies off.

His thoughts drifted to another dark-haired girl in his life and he had to roll over and smush his face into his pillow, pink blooming like flowers on his cheeks.

“You are disgusting.” Plagg hissed from his place on Adrien’s bed.

Adrien grinned stupidly, looking up at the kwami. “She asked me to kiss her.”

“I know I was there and can you please not kiss people while you’re in the suit? It’s disgusting.” Plagg spat.

Adrien smiled, grabbing the kwami and holding him against his chest in a hug.

“God this is disgusting.” the venom in his tone lessened.

“Have you ever been in love Plagg?” Adrien whispered giddily.

“Of course not! I’m a million year old god-like cat spirit.” the kwami crossed his arms over his chest.

“It’s great, you should try it some time.”

“Get some sleep, dumbass.”

“Language, Plagg,” Adrien warned before letting the kwami go.

~

Marinette woke up with rays of gold splashing across her face. Her phone rang the tune that Marinette had once thought was cute but now found it actual hell screaming in her ears.

Grabbing the phone, she tapped the screen randomly before holding it to her face. “Mmm?” she groaned.

“Hey Mari, how’s it going?” Alya’s bubbly voice piped up.

“Alya it’s like 6 am.” Marinette groaned.

“You should be waking up at 6 am it’s good for you.” Alya scolded.

“Thanks for the advice, Mom.” Marinette chuckled.

“So, listen, I’m in town, leaving Sunday, we need to meet up asap.”

“Really? Why? And, of course!” Marinette sat up slowly, brushing hair from her face.

“They want me to do an assignment on Ladybug and Chat Noir! I’ve been talking about them a lot and oh my god, girl, when they asked me to do a special on them I was like yes!” Alya rambled excitedly.

Marinette made a mental note to pay close attention to Alya during the next akuma attack. “I’m so happy for you. I miss you so much and there’s so much I need to tell you.” she sighed.

“Oh, this sounds juicy. Spill.”

Marinette tsked. “Patience, young one. We need to talk in person.”

“ _Oh this sounds big._ ”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “It really isn’t that big.”

“Too bad you already raised my expectations. So are you available today?” Alya laughed.

Marinette flopped back onto her pillow, making the bed shake and effectively waking Tikki. She had classes today and after her classes she was going to take a walk with Adrien in the snow that was supposed to fall today. He sounded so excited when he relayed the information to her, she smiled as she remembered. That wouldn’t take more than an hour. But then she had homework… “Can I call you about it later? I don’t know how much homework I have…”

“Blow your homework. What are you doing after your classes? I can pick you up from uni.”

Marinette bit her lip. “I can’t _blow_ my homework, my parents pay for me to go to school now.”

“Whatever. So after school?”

Marinette waited a few heartbeats. “I have a thing.”

Silence. And then, “A _thing._ ”

“Yes, a thing.”

“What _thing_?” Marinette could almost hear Alya raising her eyebrow and flashing her suggestive smile.

“Uh a thing, that I will tell you about. Later. When we meet up? Which I can do around 7 pm okay gotta get ready for class now Alya bye!”

She cut the line as Alya was halfway through her “ _Wait!_ ”

Marinette sighed, checking the clock.

“Why didn’t you tell Alya you have a date with Adrien?” Tikki smiled.

“It’s not a date, Tikki, we’re just catching up. And, I don’t know, I feel like she could make it weird somehow. Like I’m not over him or… something.” Marinette sighed.

“You’ll be walking around together.”

“Yeah.”

“He’ll buy you hot chocolate.”

“Hey-”

“The snow will fall around you both romantically.”

“Snow can’t fall romantically it just falls.”

Tikki smiled.

“It’s not a date. What about Chat?” Marinette huffed.

Tikki shrugged her little shoulders. “It’s nearly 7, Marinette. You should probably start getting ready soon.”

Marinette opened her mouth to argue more but shut it quickly. Tikki wasn’t on any side but Marinette’s, she was just trying to help her see every facet of the situation.

Rolling out of bed, Marinette dragged herself into the bathroom, freshening up quickly before heading out again, into the golden Parisian morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, a shit ton of filler crap. Next chapter should be more interesting. I didn't want to smush in the painting scene here because it deserves it's own chapter so that's really why this chapter is so short.
> 
> Also I feel like Plagg swears like a sailor but Adrien tries to shake him of the habit because Adrien's smol ears can't take it.
> 
> I'll try to get the next update out soon!
> 
> Edit: I just noticed that the end notes for chapter one are showing up for chapter two as well is that happening for everyone or just me? I haven't seen it happen on other fics but whatever just ignore it.


	3. I'll Never Let Go, Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien almost sends nudes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I'm getting better at updating. That'll probably stop as soon as the infinite number of snow days comes to an end. Then I'll probably update once every three months. Also this chapter kinda sucks like I said I'm recovering from major writer's block the recovery is really bad but I'm working on it, really. 
> 
> Oh also I'm deleting a few lines at the end of the first chapter. The one were Marinette forgets her number for a second? Turns out I subconsciously plucked those straight out of @codango's 'this would take some getting used to' :((( It's a great fic you all should read it okay 
> 
> Enjoy!

Adrien woke up with an acute sense of _oh god Marinette has to look at my penis again_.The words thumped heavily in his chest and guilt weighed on him like a storm cloud. It wasn’t like his joystick wasn’t _nice_ to _look at_ , though Adrien couldn’t speak for everyone… It was just that poor, sweet Marinette shouldn’t be forced to stare at it so openly.

Besides that, he was deathly afraid of it doing something really stupid like twitching under her gaze or _hardening_. Adrien blushed, running a hand through his golden hair. His flesh flute had behaved earlier but… 

As he neared the campus, Plagg spoke up from his place in Adrien’s pocket. “I still don’t see why you’re nervous. She’s already seen your dick, she looked at it for like an hour.”

“Plagg,” Adrien hissed. “Shut up.”

He had elected to walk to the campus, deciding the exercise would be good for him. It was also a little bit of the fact that his father never sent his limousine anymore and riding to his shoots in a bus probably wasn’t professional. 

Not that this was a shoot at all, the students were required to shut their phones off in the presence of a… nude… model. Breaking the rule resulted in immediately being kicked out. The woman assured him over and over that no one had broken the rule yet but Adrien speculated that some probably had, without being caught.

Regardless, he’d taken the job. He had yet to really regret it, though.

“And how many times do I need to tell you to watch your language?” Adrien snapped.

“You don’t seem upset about it, really.” Plagg answered.

It was hard to be upset. He was both happy and nervous, butterflies turned his insides to mush but he found himself humming tunelessly.

Pushing open the door to the classroom, his eyes immediately sought out Marinette.

She was sitting primly in the same seat she had sat in yesterday. She was arranging her brushes and her sketchbook as well as her paint pots. Yesterday, her hair had been let out, loose and falling in waves that brushed her shoulders. Today, she had braided it back in a french braid, just four knots, as her hair was shorter, her bangs brushing her brow.

Catching her eye, he blushed and waved. She wiggled her fingers in a shy reply. Taking it as an opening, Adrien strode to her, struck again by how much he towered over her.

“Hi, Marinette.” he smiled.

“Hi.” she replied shyly.

“How did you sleep?” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes, her tentative nature disappearing. “Well you didn’t hang up until one in the morning and then Alya called at six so really I didn’t get much sleep at all thanks to you both.”

“Alya’s in town?” Adrien raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah, she’s leaving Sunday. She’s doing an assignment on Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Marinette smiled, proud of her best friend.

“We should all hang out together! I’ll give Nino a call, it’ll be like old times.” he winked. _Tone it down, Adrien, put away your Chat._

Her blue eyes sparkled. “Yeah, definitely! Alya will be really excited to see you both again. Where is Nino by the way?”

“Ah, he’s studying at the same university I am… well he’s kinda studying. He mostly just goes to his Computer Science class and blows the other ones for video games in the hole he calls a dorm.” Adrien chuckled, remembering the unwashed sheets, the candy wrappers like a sea on the floor, as well as the small bundle of blankets by the tv that Nino inhabited.

“It’s nice that you both see each other everyday.” Marinette sighed, her eyes turning to the floor. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say everyday-”

“Alright class, we’ll begin shortly as soon as our model is ready.” The professor called out, giving Adrien a pointed look over her glasses.

Adrien smiled sheepishly before turning back to Marinette. “Uh, Marinette?”

“Yeah?” she looked up at him, blue eyes glittering.

“Paint me like one of your french girls.” he whispered, dropping a wink before rushing into the room where he had dressed and undressed the other day.

His hammering chest and thoughts of _Oh my god stop it Chat you’re Adrien right now_ were only quelled by Plagg, who was laughing at such a volume that he was sure Plagg’s little lungs would end up on the floor.

“What did you do that for?” Plagg laughed, wiping tears from his eyes.

“I really have no idea.” Adrien murmured.

“Well, put away your Chat Noir tendencies, you’re about to strip naked.” Plagg choked.

“Shut up, Plagg.”

~

Marinette was so struck by those eight words that she couldn’t move. Her limbs froze but she could feel her heart racing at a new rate.

“Marinette.” Tikki’s soft voice came from her bag. Marinette immediately snatched it up her bag, shushing her kwami.

“Tikki, you know we can’t talk in class, people will hear us.” she whispered as she pretended to root through it for something.

“You looked like you needed a little moral support.” Tikki smiled. “Are you okay?”

“Holy shit, Tikki. What on Earth is happening? Did Chat somehow grab hold of him and inhabit his body?!” Marinette whisper-screeched.

“It… wasn’t that bad.”

“It was a quote from _Titanic,_ Tikki. It was _bad.” It’s fine, Marinette, calm down you’re about to see him naked calm down._

She had honestly been proud of how easily she had interacted with him moments before. And then he ruined it. Completely ruined it. She could look him in the eye after seeing his… candle, but now all she would be thinking as she painted him would be his wink, and his tone and his… Oh, she was fucked. Fucked two days in a row, let’s set a goddamn record.

Sighing, Marinette pulled her head from her bag and set it, again, on the floor. She toyed with her brushes, not looking at her drawing of Adrien that she had opened and set on the easel.

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale-_

Oh perfect, Adrien had walked out of the dressing -undressing?- room, now wearing the burgundy robe with the school logo on the breast. At least he looked a little red.

“Alright, look at someone’s drawing and copy the pose.” Marinette’s professor told him.

Adrien nodded, heading straight for her. She was reminded of yesterday, when he had left the dressing room, fully dressed, and immediately came to greet her. The memory tugged at the corners of her lips, making her smile a little as she passed him her sketchbook. His fingers grazed hers as he took the sketchbook

“This is really good, Marinette.” he whispered.

She blushed, taking the sketchbook from him as he passed it to her. He then proceeded to drop his bag by the couch and slip out of the robe.

Marinette could cross her heart that she honestly tried not to stare. But really, who wouldn’t want to watch millimeter upon millimeter of skin being revealed as silk slipped across it? Especially when it was _Adrien’s_ skin.

He then resumed the position he had taken before. His left knee was bent and lying on its side, his right knee was bent as well, though this one stood upright. His left arm was behind his head, which was tilted to the left, his right arm was at his side. It was, more or less, exactly the pose he had been in yesterday.

“Students, please make sure you are using your oil paints, no free choice of medium today, unfortunately.” the teacher smiled a little apologetically. “Begin when you’re ready.”

Marinette took a deep breath, picking up her size two brush in one hand and her palette in the other. She dipped the brush in her orange paint, transferring the buttery medium to her palette. Taking the smallest amount of red on her brush, she mixed it into the orange. Taking a sizable dolop of her white paint, she placed it on her palette, taking small amounts of the paint she had put on her palette and mixing it into the red-orange color until it matched his skin tone. _Paint me like one of your french girls._

She blushed, looking up at him, ready to face the agony again when she caught a flash of metal in her periphery. Looking over at her neighbor, she found that the girl had her phone out and was giggling at the screen.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Marinette blurted, her paintbrush still poised in her hand.

“Shut up, Marinette, keep your voice down. Did you know he’s the model Adrien Agreste? I got a picture I have to send it to my friends.” the girl whispered excitedly.

“I don’t think so.” Marinette lunged for the device, intent on deleting the picture immediately.

The girl screeched, her paintbrush raised like a weapon. Marinette crashed into the table they shared, the one that held their paints and water, as she lunged. The paints clattered to the floor, ruining her clothes but Marinette could hardly care.

Her professor stood up immediately. “What is the problem over there?” she snapped.

“Marinette took my phone.” the girl pointed.

“First of all, she shouldn’t have her phone out in the first place. Second, she was taking a picture of Ad- the model to send to her friends!” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, the phone still in her paint-splattered hands.

Adrien immediately relaxed his position, he put his robe back on frantically.

“She’s lying!” the girl yelled.

“She told me herself that she was going to do it. Check her phone if you’d like.” Marinette held the phone out to the woman who snatched it from her hands.

“All of you, phones on my desk, turned on. Write your passwords on a sticky note and paste them to your devices. All of your devices will be checked as well as your picture backup things!” she huffed. “I don’t know the terminology!”

Marinette gave up her phone, cringing. Alya was supposed to text her.

The class let out groans as they passed their phones up.

“Straight people have no chill.” a girl rolled her eyes.

“What a snitch.” another whispered to her friend.

“This is ridiculous.” a boy snorted. “He’s not even that hot.”

“Dude, yeah, he is.”

“Everyone be quiet. Mr. Agr- model, you can take the class off today until this is further investigated. You’ll still be payed in full if, after the investigation, you no longer want to model for us.” the professor said apologetically.

Marinette watched as Adrien nodded. He hurried into the dressing room to put on his clothes.

“The rest of you, I’m very disappointed in your behavior. Models are a privilege to have in our class as they are the best references. This is a human figure class, after all. We may or may not continue to bring in models. In the event that we are still allowed models, you will turn in your phones at the beginning of class. This is a zero-tolerance policy, you all know that.” she lectured. “And, Marinette?”

“I- uh, yes, professor?” Marinette blushed.

“Do you have a change of clothes with you? Once our model is done you may change in the dressing room.”

Marinette smiled and nodded. As someone who is extremely clumsy and as someone who appreciates clean clothing, she always kept a spare set of clothing in her bag. It usually served as a bed for Tikki to rest in but the kwami would have to make do today.

“As we can no longer paint today, you may all sit in silence and think about what you’ve done.”

Of course, that didn’t happen. The students spoke amongst one another, a few shooting Marinette dirty looks but none confronted her.

Marinette sighed as Adrien reemerged from the room, fully dressed now in khakis and a denim shirt. He smiled at her as she passed him, her bag in hand.

~

“I’m proud of you, Marinette.” Tikki stroked her hair. Marinette had just finished telling Tikki what had occurred and why she needed to take Tikki’s bed today.

“Everyone in class probably hates me but I would do it again.” she whispered as she pulled on her leggings. Over them, she pulled on her charcoal-colored skirt which she had paired with a lighter grey shirt and a red cardigan. “Tikki, remind me to replace my spare clothes every few years.”

The shirt was a little too tight… everywhere. Slipping on her pink emergency scarf, half to keep warm and half to cover the fact that her breasts were barely able to be squeezed into her shirt, she picked up her bag and walked out.

~

Adrien could hear Plagg’s laughs paired nicely with his loud _this is hilarious._ It was probably Plagg’s fault this happened, really, bad luck followed that kwami like a curse.

He was seated in Marinette’s chair, trying to arrange her brushes in their cases so she wouldn’t be too late to her next classes. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. He was mostly just admiring her sketches.

A smile tugged at the end of his lips. She really hadn’t changed at all. It was the same look of fury that he saw flash across her face when she threw herself at that girl. It was that look when she saw Chloe being rude in class or some other injustice occurring. Her eyebrows scrunched together and her blue eyes blazed with a fire that he would immediately step back from if they were pointed at him.

There was that warm tingly feeling he felt, knowing that she ruined her clothes and got her phone confiscated for _him._

“Adrien?” she had her hands on her hips, an eyebrow raised as she noticed that he was sitting in her chair.

“Oh, sorry, I just thought I’d start cleaning up a little, since it _is_ kind of my fault.” he grinned sheepishly.

“How on Earth is this your fault?” She said as she closed her sketchbook and began packing her things away.

He shrugged a shoulder. “If I wasn’t so handsome then maybe she wouldn’t have wanted to take a picture of me?”

He watched as pink bloomed on her cheeks. “Well, you can’t really help that, can you?” she mumbled.

He grinned. “Are we still hanging out today?”

“Y-yeah of course.” she smiled.

“I’m just going to come by campus after your classes and pick you up. Because it’ll be easier than us just meeting there, especially since you don’t have your phone.” he looked up apologetically.

“Yeah okay. Um can I use your phone to call Alya really quick? I was supposed to meet her today but I’m not really sure when.” She had packed up her things. Standing while he was sitting, he came up to her chin.

Adrien passed her his phone after typing in his password.

“Nice wallpaper.” she grinned and he was struck by how comfortable she suddenly was with him. She was a far cry from the blushing puddle she was a few years ago. “Still have a major crush on Ladybug, I see.”

“Who doesn’t, be real Marinette.” he laughed, blushing as he remembered the picture. It was a day they had been on a patrol. A reporter had caught them sitting on a building that overlooked the whole city. Her head had been rested on his shoulder, his hand rested on her thigh. It was probably one of his best days. The reporter had written a breathy report, speculating what they had been doing there and why. The entire article was bullshit but the picture was beautiful. Their eyes were lit by the Parisian lights and they both seemed to be glowing. “And who’s to say I’m not in love with Chat Noir?”

“That’s true, that day you asked me about how great he was, the day Nathanael was akumatized, did make me think you were just a little in love with him.” she rolled her eyes.

“He is still really great. And he’s so attractive, don’t you agree?” he asked as she lifted the phone to her ear.

She laughed at him before greeting Alya. She groaned as she told her best friend that her phone had gotten taken away and they made their plans over his phone.

“Um, I’m using uh Adrien’s ph-phone um I’ll see you later gotta go bye!” She cut the line and passed him the phone.

The class dismissed, the students began filing out the door but Marinette caught him.

“I just wanted to ask, is it okay if I tell her about, you know, the past two classes. With you, being the model and all…” her voice was impossibly quiet.

He chewed his lip. He really didn’t want news to be spread around and Alya was first and foremost a journalist. He wouldn’t blame her for not being able to resist a story like this. “If it’s okay with you, maybe we can just keep this between us? For now?”

She smiled. “Of course.”

He sighed, the lump in his throat uncoiling, sending relief through his veins. “I owe you one, Mari.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of Adrien's interactions with Plagg:
> 
> Plagg: *laughs at Adrien being stupid about his dick*  
> Adrien: Shut up, Plagg
> 
> Also here's a link to art that inspired Marinette's emergency outfit: http://kallenart.tumblr.com/post/137584809804/i-sure-cant-wait-for-the-post-reveal-power-couple
> 
> I'm sorry for the lack of Adrien's dick in this chapter I'll remedy this situation soon.


	4. Chapter IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things get a little hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated as often as I did with the first three chapters! School started back up after the roads were cleaned after Blizzard Jonas™ so I haven't had time to start this chapter. I hope you all enjoy! Also I've gotten a few requests to tone down the interesting names for Adrien's penis so I tried to incorporate that a little more. It'll be harder next chapter but
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

“I told you it would snow.” Adrien grinned smugly.

Marinette rolled her eyes at him, earning a teasing bump. They had so easily slipped into friendship, Adrien was surprised. Of course, the 8 hour phone calls and constant stupid texts helped… 

“So what did Alya say earlier?” he glanced at her. Her eyes were bright, brighter as the white flecks of snow in her hair contrasted the dark coloring. Her jacket had little splotches of paint. Seeing it he had offered to buy her a new one but she waved him off, claiming many of the spots were already there.

She groaned now. “She asked why my phone got taken away and I told her someone was taking pictures of the model. I didn’t mention the model was you, no worries.” she smiled up at him. “Then she ranted for a few minutes about how stupid people are. It’s a recurring rant, I’m sure you’re not surprised. Then she asked when we would meet and we made plans.”

“Why did you freak out and hang up on her?” he chuckled.

“I didn’t freak out!” she sputtered. “She asked whose phone I was using and I told her it was yours and hung up so she wouldn’t say anything about it. I’ll probably be lectured later today though.” she groaned again.

Adrien laughed causing Marinette to stick her tongue out a thim. “Do you want hot chocolate?” he nodded to a nearby stand.

He watched as her attention turned to her bag. She glared at it for moments before looking back up at him. “Yeah, sure. But I’m paying.”

“Mari,” he whined.

“Adrien,” she matched his tone teasingly.

He grabbed her shoulders, turning her towards him. “You know money isn’t a problem for me.”

“Adrien.” she took his wrists gently, tentatively. “It’s hot chocolate. It’s not expensive. And money isn’t a problem for me either.”

“Marinette, please.”

She stared up at him, her eyes wide and blue. The snowy backdrop made her eyes vivid and prominent on her face. His voice inexplicably caught in his throat. "Fine,” she sighed. “But one day I will make you let me pay.”

He grinned. “In your dreams, Princess.”

He missed her blush as he let her shoulders go, the hands that encircled his wrists dropped. He walked past to order. The vendor poured their cups, the smell of warm chocolate making Adrien’s mouth water. Thanking the vendor as he payed, Adrien passed a cup to Marinette. Her gloved hands covered his before taking the warm cup from him.

He downed his quickly, sighing as the warm sweetness defrosted his bones. Marinette was smiling up at him. “What?”

“You don’t get to eat or drink things like this often, do you?” she blew into her cup to cool the liquid before sipping it.

He blushed. “Not at all. My dietician would die if she found out I drank this many calories.”

She laughed. “if this is bad then you’ll never want to set foot inside our- my parents bakery.”

“A dream come true for a deprived man like me.” Adrien sighed theatrically.

“You would faint if you even saw the window displays.” she suspired wistfully.

“You miss your parents.” he said quietly.

She nodded.

They walked in silence until a little girl, no older than 8, blocked their path as she grinned up at them.

“You look like Ladybug!” she said gleefully as she pointed to Marinette.

Adrien started. How did this girl think Marinette, who definitely was not Ladybug, looked like Ladybug but didn’t mention him looking like Chat when he actually was Chat?

“Wh-what?” Marinette stammered.

“Sorry to bother you!” the girl’s father came running over. He leaned in close to Marinette but Adrien was close enough to hear. “Please sign her ladybug toy, she idolizes Ladybug and it would mean the world to her if you signed it, even if you aren’t Ladybug.” the man’s eyes were pleading as they trained on her.

Adrien grinned as Marinette pushed through her flustered state to smile kindly. “Of course.”

Marinette took the little ladybug plush toy and whipped out a marker from her school bag before signing the little tag with a flourish.

“Thank you!” the girl’s smile widened. “I don’t have a cat for you, Chat Noir, but next time I will, right, Daddy?”

Adrien’s heart stopped as the girl addressed him as Chat. A mixture of fear and pride bubbled in his throat that was only dissolved when Marinette snorted.

The girl’s father chuckled. “Really, thank you.” he whispered before being dragged off by his daughter.

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other before dissolving into breathy giggles.

“I- can’t believe she thought you looked like Chat.” she breathed out in between her giggles.

“Why are you so surprised? We’re both very handsome and love Ladybug. Lots in common.” he kept his tone light and joking to hide the truth behind his words.

Marinette shook her head, flecks of snow gently falling from her bangs.

~

After that horrendously scary moment with the child, Marinette and Adrien walked in a comfortable silence, one that had little smiles lighting their faces.

Moments passed until Adrien spoke up. “It’s a shame you won’t be able to finish your painting.” he sighed.

Marinette started. “You mean you’re going to quit?”

He looked up at her apologetically and Marinette’s heart skittered wildly. The snow flecked his hair perfectly as if every flake was placed among his locks strategically. His green eyes were dark against the white of the snow. The cold made the very end of his nose pink as well as a light dusting of the color across his cheeks. The wind blew his jacket back slowly, making it billow back gently like a cloak. Nature itself catered to Adrien Agreste and it just wasn’t fair.

“It was too close a call. If my father sees pictures of me nude or even finds out I took the job, he’ll skin me alive, modelling job be damned.”

Bravery and maybe a little insanity coursing through her veins, she touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”

He smiled at her. “What are you sorry for?”

She blushed. “The stupidity of everyone?”

“That isn’t your fault, Princess.” the name surprised her but she couldn’t help the smile that lit her face when he used it. “I’m just upset that your beautiful sketch will be left undone.” he sighed.

 _It’s only beautiful because of the model._ The words rose as a lump in her throat but she swallowed them. “It’s okay, there are a lot of unfinished designs and paintings in that book.” she choked past the lump. “But it is a shame, it’s probably one of my best.”

“It’s settled then.” he grinned at her. “We will go to one of our apartments and finish it.”

Marinette’s vision went black for a moment as she digested his words. Her feet stumbled but she righted herself as her vision swam back into clarity. “You-you’re comfortable with that?” she choked out.

“I trust you, Mari.” he smiled but Marinette caught the previous pink on his cheeks deepen to a flustered red. “If you’re comfortable, that is.”

She lapsed into a stunned silence. She would be alone. In a room. With a naked Adrien Agreste. To top it off, she’d be staring at his sculpted figure for long long periods of time. Her vocabulary left her.

“M-Marinette?” he blushed.

“Why do you care about my stupid drawing?” she blurted.

“Because you’re talented. Consider it a thank you, for throwing yourself at someone so I wouldn’t get in trouble.” his smile was kind, if tentative.

Again, words failed her. But her head was nodding before she could figure out how to move her tongue and her lips again.

~

Marinette’s apartment was nice, tasteful and cute, very Marinette. Pictures of family and friends patterned the pale pink walls. Some pictures were of just her and Alya, some included himself and Nino, a selfie or two, some class pictures. He even recognized a picture of her family, one he had seen in her house as Chat Noir. One he had stared at thinking, _this is what a real family looks like._

“Adrien?” Marinette pulled him from his reminiscence. He blushed, realizing he had been standing there staring at the picture for far too long for it to be acceptable.

It had been Marinette who stammeringly suggested that it should be her apartment they use. She had said she couldn’t paint without an easel and hers was in her home. She had said finding a new one or using a makeshift one would be a hassle.

He had agreed, naturally. He had no qualms about stripping naked in a class full of strangers, why not Marinette’s house?

“I-I’ll go get my easel. You can just…” she bit her lip. “Get ready here. My sketchbook is on the table if you need to see the pose.

She disappeared into her room and Adrien exhaled loudly.

“Psst.” Plagg hissed from Adrien’s bag.

Adrien scurried over, bending over the bag to glare at the kwami. “Yes, Plagg?” he snapped in a whisper.

“Hey, slow down. I didn’t do anything.” the kwami crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.

“Sorry, sorry. I just don’t know…” What did he not know? Everything. Why was he here? What was he doing? Why is his life like this?

“First of all, I’m starving and I need cheese.”

“And?”

“Second of all,” Plagg sighed. “Don’t be nervous and don’t worry. Marinette is nice and won’t ever mention this to anyone ever. The situation isn’t weighted. Marinette is your friend and this is a nice thing you’re doing for your friend. I seriously doubt Ladybug would ever find out about this and if she did, she’d probably just laugh and tell you you were being stupid for no reason.”

Adrien started, surprised at the reassuring tone in Plagg’s voice. “Th-thanks, Plagg. I’d never expected any supportive behavior from you. It’s a nice surprise.” he touched the kwami’s head gently as a gesture of affection.

“I’m always supportive, kid. Now get me cheese.” he groaned.

Adrien nearly facepalmed. _Yeah, hi Marinette, I’m in your house to strip naked so you can paint me, do you mind if I raid your fridge for some cheese?_ “Marinette?” he called.

“Yeah?” her voice was muffled by the door.

“Is it okay if I grab something to eat?” he groaned internally as the words slipped by.

“Oh!” Marinette burst from her room. “I should have offered you something earlier, sorry.” she walked past him, opening her fridge and pantry. “What would you like?”

“Uh… some cheese, if you uh have it?” he cringed.

“Um, cheese? I have slices but nothing fancy…” she blushed.

“No, no the slices are perfect. I’ll take two, thank you.” Adrien said hurriedly.

“You don’t want, um, crackers or… I could make a grilled cheese or something?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

He blushed. “No, just the cheese would be great.”

She shrugged, passing him the cheese before returning to her room to find her easel.

“Plagg, you are the worst. Can’t you like cookies or something normal?” Adrien unwrapped the slices and passed them to him.

“Everyone loves cheese, Adrien. Except maybe lactose-intolerant people. Poor suckers.” Plagg snorted past a mouthful of cheese.

“Just tell me when you’re ready, Adrien!” Marinette called.

He sighed. “Wish me luck.” What he needed luck for, he didn’t know.

Plagg snorted. “Trust me, you don’t want my luck.”

~

To say Marinette was nervous was a horrible understatement. Her heart pounded her chest, aching for release, as she slipped out of her bedroom, easel in hand.

She set up without making eye contact with him successfully. Her easel, old and rarely used now, had to be wrestled from its condensed state. Her paintbrushes and paints ready, she finally glanced up at him.

His green eyes glittered kindly as they regarded her, a light blush dusted his angular cheekbones. Again, Marinette was struck by the statuesque physique he had attained. He was muscular but lean. Chiseled grooves in pale skin made up the obvious muscles he had built up. She blushed as her eyes slid to the lines that were carved into his hips.

“Marinette?”

“Hmm… oh! Right, yes, painting I…” she faltered off, blushing furiously.

She gripped her paintbrush tightly, averting her eyes. She again created a paint mixture that matched his skin tone, taking her time before lifting her eyes to him. Horribly afraid of ruining his facial features, she began painting the rest of his body, the buttery medium gliding across the sketched planes of his skin.

She gently coaxed the paint to coat the paper, filling the sketch of his left shoulder with the skin toned medium. Her brush travelled down his arm, mindful of the delicate fingers she had so painstakingly drawn.

Her heart had gained its relief as painting her base coat didn’t really require staring at the delicately carved grooves in his arms. Nevertheless, she let her mind wander from Adrien to the other blond-haired boy keeping her on edge.

She loved Chat Noir, she was sure of it. He was her best friend, the person she entrusted her life with, the person who felt guilt weigh on himself when she was hurt. There were so many layers of love, the most overpowering was friendship, of course. First and foremost, Chat was her friend, no matter what happened between them. What was happening between them, Marinette wasn’t sure.

She was secure in the fact that she knew she liked kissing him. She liked the butterflies, the idea that someone, anyone, could want her to the extent that Chat did, had her spiralling. She had no real reason to be hesitant at the prospect of dating him except that she wasn’t sure how actually dating would work. He couldn't take her out during the day as Ladybug and Chat Noir, it would draw the eyes of the public, the last thing Marinette wanted. Besides, she only saw him for a few hours a week, most of which were spent fighting for their lives. Patrols were an option but Marinette wanted real dates; walks in parks, dinners in restaurants.

What scared her most was the idea that if she stopped keeping him at arm’s length, he’d want to know who she was behind the spots.

But surely if she let him closer to her heart, she’d trust him with these secrets? _What if he won’t want Marinette?_ the cruel parts of her mind whispered.

She pushed the thoughts from her head. She’d speak to him tonight at their patrol, her mind would be set at ease, hopefully.

Turning her attention back to her painting, her base paint had settled in. She used the same brush to mix darker paint into a corner of the dolop of flesh toned paint she had before plopping the brush into the cup of water she’d set out. She took two small brushes, one for blending, the other for the color. Marinette glanced up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips as she noticed the faraway expression painted on his face.

~

Adrien, seated on Marinette’s couch with nothing to do but look pretty, did what he did at his modelling shoots; delve into his Ladybug fantasies.

It was an effort not to widen his smile into a full blown grin as he relived the two moments his lips had touched hers. He didn’t know what he did to finally make her fall for him but he wouldn’t question it for all the world. He did, of course, want to know what they were now. He was positive, even with his limited knowledge of dating, that kissing someone twice wasn’t something that you just let go of. 

His grin did widen as he remembered what it was like to feel her soft pink lips slide over his. Eyes half-lidding in something that was almost surprise, her lips called to his, coaxing him, challenging him. Both kisses were brief but completely and absolutely enough.

His mind wandered to moment he envisioned in which he could kiss her for as long as he desired. Moment where her fingers slipped in his hair, bumping into the cat ears that resided on his head. Moments were his thumbs could rub lazy circles into her hips, where her hands pressed to his chest, nails scraping gently. Moments where-

“A-Adrien?” Marinette’s voice, soft and tentative and all of a sudden _shy,_ cut through his daydreams.

He was suddenly all too aware of the familiar sensation between his legs that his daydreams failed to notify him of. “O-oh, I-I’m uh sorry I just, cold and sometimes and,” suddenly he was scrambling for explanations, any explanation to alleviate the sudden heavy awkwardness that had settled in the room like a shroud.

“You-you’re cold?” she whispered. Her face was impossibly red. He wanted to smack himself. _Yes, good going, Adrien, come into her house, sit on her couch naked and get a hard on, A+, you won the prize for actual fuckwad congratulations._

“I- could turn up the heat if you’d like.” she said quietly.

“No, no, I’m fine.” he blushed. _Spiders, old ladies, wrinkles, otters, little Adrien please behave._ LIttle Adrien did not behave. LIttle Adrien chose to harden further as a huge _fuck you._

Kind, sweet, lovely Marinette ignored his situation, pretending it wasn’t occurring as she went on painting her details. He couldn’t help himself, he smiled a little, sure he had gone completely insane.

One of her hands gripped her sketchbook, holding it in place as the other created the lines in his body with a paintbrush. Her other paintbrush, currently clean and unused, was trapped between her soft pink lips, held there with her teeth. Those blue eyes, the kind boys, boys like Nathanael, wrote poetry about, were filled with a passionate fire, only extinguished a little by her flustered state. The smattering of freckles across her nose stood out like stars in the sky. 

He could see why the girl at the park mistook Marinette for Ladybug. Their coloring was similar, dark hair and bright eyes like the sky that were slightly slanted, displaying their half-Chinese heritage. But Marinette was nothing like his lady. Marinette was quiet, subdued, passive. She was sweet and kind and cute. She was a star, barely visible but beautiful to look at.

Ladybug was the moon. Overpowering, dominating the night sky, a light in the dark. Confident, powerful, and beautiful. She was something dreamers pointed out to others with awe in their eyes.

Marinette and Ladybug just couldn’t be put together in Adrien’s mind. They were too different but at the same time perfectly alike.

He was drawn from his reverie as Marinette took the paintbrush caught between her lips and replaced it with the one she had been using. The brush wobbled in the grip of her teeth, painting her cheek with its hairs.

“Marinette.” he said softly, intent on notifying her of the paint streaks on her cheek.

“Don’t move.” she murmured, her eyes stuck to her sketchbook, not even bothering to look up at him as he spoke.

He grinned before remembering her orders and schooled his features.

~

It took too long to finish painting half of his body. Much longer than Marinette’s professor would approve of. But no one could say it wasn’t a true work of art.

His arms, soft skin over tight muscle, were perfectly rendered, the shadows accentuating every line engraved into his skin. His chest was possibly the easiest part, mostly flat color with dark shadows cutting lines down his torso. The afternoon light filtering in through her curtains made him positively glow, it was extremely hard to capture perfectly but she worked quickly, not wanting the light to die down into evening, leaving them with _artificial light._ The word itself made bile rise to her throat.

Her initial sketch of him may have been a trainwreck but this painting was her best yet, and she wasn’t even done.

“Adrien?” she whispered now, looking up at him.

“Mm?”

“I’m not done yet but the light is fading and the forecast says the weather should be a lot like this tomorrow so the lighting will hopefully be the same around this time tomorrow so, if you want, we can just take a break and finish up tomorrow? It’s already been hours.” she set down her brushes, her paint covered fingers in her lap.

“Yeah, yes, sure, let’s take a break.” he relaxed his pose. She tried not to watch him stretch but the muscles in his back contracted and _as an artist who appreciates details and the human body of course_ she couldn’t stop herself from watching. “Can I see it?”

“Hm? Oh! Of course.” she shifted in her seat as he walked over. The proximity had her heart fluttering wildly.

“Oh my god, Marinette.” he breathed.

She blushed profusely. “I- it’s not done yet so it’ll look better when I’m done but-”

“I can’t believe that this could look even better than it already does. This is amazing, Mari. I would ask to keep it but my father… and I’m sure you’d want to keep your work, it’s amazing.”

“You can have it.” she blurted. “But your father… I understand.”

He nodded, sighing. “I should-”

“Marinette, girl, I’m going to beat your ass. You are so _late!”_ Alya’s oppressively loud voice came from the other side of Marinette’s door, making both and Adrien and Marinette herself freeze.

She looked at Adrien with pure panic in her eyes before waving for him to go into her bathroom and change. She quickly grabbed her easel, sketchbook and all, and tossed it into her room, her sketchbook shoved into her closet to let the paint dry before she shoved it into her bag for class tomorrow.

“I’m coming, Alya, just a minute!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I proposed this fic idea to my friend, I made her promise to slap me if I wrote more than 5k words for this fic. She has yet to do her job.
> 
> Also sorry if this chapter is choppy, I rarely edit fanfiction as soon as I write it I'm like 'yes perfect okay' and I get really excited and immediately post it.
> 
> Again, thank you for all the support this fic has gotten, I'm really happy you all are enjoying it!


	5. Chapter V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alya gets fake answers and snores really loudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah I have never hated a chapter more before. This is probably the worst one yet but you know, I feel like I made up for it with like as much Adrienette I could possibly slip in without it being OOC.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Alya!” Marinette opened the door with a wide grin plastered across her face.

“What were you doing with Adrien’s phone?! What were your plans after class?! What were you doing?! Was it him?! Did you do Adrien Agreste?!” Alya stormed into her apartment without preamble before spinning on her heel, turning her fiery eyes on Marinette.

“Alya!” Marinette choked out, praying Adrien couldn’t hear a word. Unfortunately, her apartment was very small, so small that a word murmured in one room could be easily heard in another.

“Answer the questions.” Alya crossed her arms over her chest, her ‘journalist face’, as Marinette referred to it as, was plastered across her features.

Marinette, hands becoming clammy with the sweat that she’d worked up, took her emergency scarf off, feeling extremely hot. “Let’s just sit down, let me get you some food or something!”

Alya sighed, taking off her snow covered jacket and boots before shaking out her wild hair and wrapping Marinette in a tight hug. Marinette sighed into the embrace, hugging her friend.

“Life sucks without you, Mari.” Alya laughed, her questions momentarily forgotten.

“I missed you too.” Marinette sighed. “Adrien and NIno do too. They want to meet with us while you’re in town.”

Alya pulled away from her her hands still at Marinette’s shoulders. “Where is Adrien by the way?”

“Um, in Paris, studying physics at university.” Marinette answered nervously.

Alya lifted her eyebrows at her. “I saw his shoes at the door.”

Marinette’s eyes grew wide, her gaze flickered to the doorway where Adrien’s shoes resided. “Uh, they’re not, his?” she stammered out, trying not to notice the weighty presence of her bathroom door.

Alya rolled her eyes, proceeding to pace her apartment. “Agreste line shoes, Marinette? Not many people can afford those, unless they’re parent is Papa Agreste himself. So then whose are they?”

“Uh um a f-friend’s.” Marinette said, mentally slapping herself.

“Really? Are they here? Can I meet them?” Alya’s telltale Cheshire grin had Marinette crumbling under the pressure.

“Uh no! They accidentally left them behind!” she squeaked. “Come on, Alya, we have a lot of catching up to do!”

“Yeah, in a sec, Mari. I just need to use the restroom!” Alya flounced over to the dreaded bathroom door, only wood between her and Adrien.

“It’s broken!” Marinette blurted as she shot between Alya and the door. “Let’s go out! Let’s shop! They have bathrooms there!”

“Oh, Mari, haven’t you looked out the window? It’s a borderline blizzard out there. I was going to ask to stay with you but it seems you have company.” she gestured to the light glowing from behind the door.

Marinette did smack herself then, hands smushed against her face as Alya knocked on the door.

“Why don’t you come out, Adrien. We can all chat together!” Alya grinned.

Silence, heavy, awkward silence. Then a sigh from behind the door before it cracked open to reveal a fully clothed Adrien Agreste.

~

Adrien, ear pressed to the door with bated breath, could hear every word from behind the door. Some he chose to ignore the existence of for both his and Marinette’s sakes.

His heart rate increased to an unhealthy level as Alya’s boisterous presence could be felt on the other side of the door. Plagg, safely tucked in his bag, snickered.

“Why don’t you come out, Adrien. We can all chat together!”

His heart stopped as he waited a few minutes, scrambling for a story before steeling himself. Grabbing his bag, he touched the doorknob, sighing before opening the door to reveal Alya, her grin something Chat would be proud of. Marinette, on the other hand, looked as if her whole world had suddenly come crashing down. He gave her a quick, reassuring smile. He only saw flashes of her guilty expression before turning his eyes on Alya.

“Alya, how have you been?” he smiled, his nervous nature hidden by his practiced model’s smile.

She rolled her eyes, goodnaturedly. “Both of you, on the couch. Now.”

Marinette immediately scurried to sit, Adrien close behind. He set his bag down before sitting by her, his shoulder pressed to hers.

“We can do all the fluffy stuff later. The ‘how are you?’s and the ‘how’s college’s, that shit.” Alya waved her hand, as if dispelling the words. “For now, I need your story.”

Marinette shifted uncomfortably next to him, panic rolling off her in waves. He let his fingers graze hers inconspicuously, trying to reassure her without Alya noticing.

“Well, you see, Alya,” he began, calling up any ounce of confidence that was buried beneath panic. “I ran into Marinette a few days ago, at a coffeeshop on her campus.” he glanced at Marinette, whose blue gaze was trained on him as he spouted bullshit.

“Yeah, we went to it last time you visited! You remember, Cafe Encré?” she took his story in stride. He fought a Chat Noir-like grin.

Alya tapped her lip, calling up the memory. “Okay, so why are you here now?”

Marinette smiled, taking the lead. “We’re just catching up a little more. It’s been awhile. Right, Adrien?”

“Of course, it’s been a really long time since I’ve seen anyone from high school besides Nino.” Adrien smiled.

“Why were you hiding in the bathroom?” Alya lifted an eyebrow.

Marinette blushed. “S-sorry, Alya. I just didn’t want you to jump to conclusions and think things that aren’t actually happening.”

That threw Adrien off guard. But, of course, Alya would immediately jump to oh they’re dating. If she had jumped there then Marinette would have a hard time convincing her otherwise.

Would he date Marinette? Maybe in another life, a Ladybug-less life. He glanced at her now. She was pretty enough to have a mile long line of people wanting her. Maybe she did. Maybe she had a boyfriend. He didn’t know why, but the thought made him feel… uneasy, maybe a little protective. He shook his head, dispelling all thoughts and returning to the present.

Alya squinted at them for a long time before breaking into a huge grin. “Alright, fluff time.” she raised her arms. “Hug me, Agreste, it’s been ages.”

Adrien grinned, wrapping his arms around Alya in a friendly hug before sitting back down right next to Marinette who was smiling faintly.

“So, how have you both been?” Alya pulled up the chair Marinette had been seated in earlier.

“Busy.” he sighed, checking his phone. “Actually, I should be heading home soon.” he shot Marinette an apologetic smile.

She bit her lip, an expression of concern overtaking her features. He couldn’t understand why the image was so familiar to him.

“Oh no no no!” Alya tsked. “The roads are awful, it’s snowing too hard for you to walk home. You’ll have to stay here until it dies down.”

“I really can’t I have shoots and my father-”

“I honestly doubt your father will be angry at you for staying inside, safe.” Marinette said quietly.

He looked at her, a silence settling over the three of them, only broken as he stood and strode to the curtains. Brushing the cloth aside, he peeked through the windows.

What greeted him on the other side was snow covered streets and white powder swirling around in harsh wind. He was _fucked_. At this rate, even if the snow died down soon, the conditions would be far too awful to walk in, let alone drive.

Suddenly, he could picture the night in perfect clarity. They’d talk for hours, have dinner, and retire early, probably at Marinette’s urging. She had early morning classes. The two of them would banish him to the couch as they slept in Marinette’s warm, soft bed. Well, he imagined it as warm and soft. Warmer and softer that the couch that held memories of his nakedness, for sure.

But he had no choice, unless he chose to brave the harsh conditions.

His only other concern was Ladybug and their scheduled patrol. He had to let her know he was stuck in snow soon. His chest ached. He had just seen her yesterday but he missed her presence.

He sighed, touching the cold glass of the window before closing the curtains and returning to his place at Marinette’s side. “You’re right, I’ll stay.”

Marinette smiled, her eyes a little apologetic but something unidentifiable sparkled beneath. Alya clapped.

“Well, how are you, Alya? How have you been since high school?” Adrien smiled.

“I’m great! Journalism is the best thing ever. I love the classes, the assignments, the everything! I’m in town to do a report on the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir. They said if I blow the case wide open, I could be famous!” her fiery eyes glittered.

Adrien’s brows furrowed, writing a mental note to try harder to keep Chat Noir from her. He smiled kindly. “That’s really great, Alya!”

Marinette sighed. “I’m happy for you, Alya, but i just don’t understand why people want to know so badly. Maybe Chat and Ladybug just want privacy. The people shouldn’t take them for granted, just thank them as Ladybug and Chat Noir and leave them alone.”

Adrien silently thanked Marinette as Chat for being, possibly, the only person in Paris who didn’t want to know.

Alya shrugged. “People like mysteries. Solving one like this is big. Anyway, Adrien, what about you?”

Still stuck on the thoughts of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Adrien was momentarily panicked. his mind had shot to is she asking me if I’m Chat?! “Um, what?”

“How have you been?” she smiled.

He let out a sigh of relief that he masked with the clearing of his throat. “I’ve been okay. Physics is fun.” Both Marinette and Alya made faces as the words slipped from his mouth. “Nino’s been keeping me company as always.” he shrugged. “And now I have Marinette.”

Marinette smiled up at him, rose color dusting her cheekbones.

“I see.” Alya grinned.

They all spoke together, laughing, talking, smiling, and blushing. The latter mostly from Adrien and Marinette at Alya’s very not subtle teasing. 

“Oh, I should get started on dinner. What would you both like?” Marinette said as she checked the time.

“I love everything you make, Mari.” Alya grinned.

“I can eat anything and everything.” Adrien said proudly.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Would you like slices of cheese again, Adrien?” she teased.

He smiled, blushing. “If that’s what’s for dinner, then absolutely. Like I said, anything and everything, Princess.”

She laughed. “Alright, pasta it is.”

“Let me help. I don’t really cook much but I don’t want you to cook a three-person meal by yourself.” he stood up, relieved to stretch his legs.

“I’ll help too!” Alya popped up from her seat.

Marinette smiled, a silent ‘thank you’ in her expression before leading them into the kitchen. Cooking was a little messy, Adrien managed to get tomato sauce in his hair, but they managed easily.

They spoke over dinner, Adrien having to compliment Marinette over and over again. He’d had world-class chefs cook for him but nothing matched Marinette’s pasta.

As the night wore on, Alya had let out an exasperated sigh out of the blue and left to find wine, insisting that they all needed a drink or two.

Minutes bled into hours and soon, the light had died outside, the conditions worsening.

“I have an 8 am class in the morning so I’m heading to bed. Alya, you can sleep in my room. Adrien, you can take the couch, I’ll set out a few blankets for you.” She smiled, a little sympathy in the tilt of her lips, before disappearing into her room.

Alya and Adren spoke but the conversation was awkward as Marinette had left and he found himself wishing she would come back. His wish was granted moments later when she came out with folded blankets in her grip. She had changed into pajamas, pink and cat-patterned flannel pants with a white cotton shirt. He had to fight to keep himself from smirking a Chat-like smirk and the attire.

“Are you both sleeping now, too?” She asked. He could detect the sleepiness in her voice, in her blue eyes. He felt the tingles of familiarity in his fingertips.

“I am. I have to wake up early.” he sighed.

“Well I’m not staying up alone. I’ll be in your room, Mari.” Alya wiggled her fingers as she bid Adrien goodnight before striding into Marinette’s room.

Marinette blushed before fixing his bed for him.

“I can do that, Marinette, you should go to bed.” He grabbed the pillow out of her hands.

“It’ll only take a minute!” she put her hand on her hip, the other held out for him to pass the pillow to.

His breath was ripped from his throat. The expression on her face was just so Ladybug. “You have an early morning,” he said as air rushed into his lungs again. He hugged the pillow to his chest.

She rolled her eyes at him before submitting. “Okay fine. I’ll see you in the morning.” she stepped forward, lashes fluttering as she pressed a kiss like a butterfly’s wing on his cheek. “Good night, Adrien.”

She flounced out before he could reply but he had no reply to form.

~

Marinette’s heart had fluttered wildly as she walked back into her room. She didn’t exactly know what had possessed her to kiss his cheek, the wine probably.

Now she was lying on her back, staring up at her ceiling as Alya bore holes into her head with her glare.

“I don’t believe a single word of that bs story.” Alya raised an eyebrow at her.

“What bs story?” Marinette sighed, tiredness settling on her like a blanket.

“That coffeeshop story. Come on, Marinette, what really happened?” Alya prodded Marinette’s leg with her cold foot beneath the blankets.

“That’s what happened, Alya, I don’t know what you want me to tell you.” Marinette rolled over to face her best friend.

“What was the big thing you wanted to tell me?” she asked, batting her lashes innocently.

Marinette giggled. “That was it. That I bumped into Adrien.”

“Liar!” Alya exclaimed. “You wouldn’t need to tell me that in person!”

Marinette, rolled away from Alya to hide her burning cheeks. She had planned on telling her about the nude model situation but she couldn’t now. She had promised Adrien she wouldn’t breathe a word.

“Marinette, you can tell me.” her voice dropped to soft and coaxing.

“We already told you, Alya!” she chuckled.

Alya sighed. “I’ll get it out of him, then. That boy’s gonna crack immediately.”

“Alya.” Marinette kept her tone warning but she couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face.

Alya chuckled. Moments later, she was snoring loudly, making Marinette wish she had fallen asleep earlier.

She could feel Adrien’s presence just feet away from her. If high school Marinette heard that in a few years she’d be sleeping in the same home as Adrien, she’d have laughed in your face. Present Marinette blushed, wishing for sleep to alleviate her from her thoughts. Unfortunately, her mind was rushing with thoughts of Adrien and Alya was snoring too loudly for sleep to come.

She stood up, untangling herself from Alya who, since they had met, was a major cuddler. She paced her room, hoping it would tire her. She lied back down and squeezed her eyes shut but they popped right back open. She checked the time, only ten minutes had passed since the last time she’d checked it. Sighing loudly, she left the room. She told herself it was to make a warm glass of milk to help her sleep but honestly parts of her mind whispered about the boy asleep on her couch and she just wanted to check on him.

Leaving her room, she padded across her hardwood floors into the kitchen, busying herself with the milk and trying not to think about Adrien on her couch.

“Marinette?” a whisper had her turning her head to her couch. Adrien had propped himself up to stare at her, sleepiness in his green eyes.

She cursed herself for waking him as he strode over to him, glass of milk in hand. “Did I wake you?” she whispered.

He laid back down, looking up at her with sleep and traces of tipsiness in his gaze. He had had a few glasses of wine. “No, I was up. Couldn’t sleep?”

She laughed softly. “Alya snores.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I can hear. Sit.” he scooted back, his back pressed to the cushion to give her space to sit.

She sat, her lower back brushing his hips. They sat like that in silence, staring at each other. His hand popped out of her blankets, taking her hand in his grip as she took a sip of her milk.

“Are you… shirtless?” she choked out, milk going places milk shouldn’t be as she choked it down.

“Uh, yes.” she could see his color rise to his cheeks. “I didn’t want to sleep in a denim shirt.”

She blushed. “Oh.”

He grinned, an expression that made her think of Chat. “I’ll tell a secret?”

She laughed quietly before leaning closer. His lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “I’m not wearing any pants either.”

She coughed, hacking loudly. _Adrien Agreste is naked. Adrien Agreste is covered only by my blankets. Adrien Agreste was naked in my house earlier._ “You’re n-naked?!” 

He laughed. “No I’m wearing boxers. I just wanted to see what you’d say.”

She laughed then, too. “You suck.”

They laughed together quietly, only stopping as Alya’s snoring paused for a few moments until starting back up, somehow even louder than before.

“You can sleep here if you want.” he murmured softly, his thumb absentmindedly skimming across her knuckles. “It _is_ your house.”

She couldn’t help herself, she honestly considered it. Her couch was small, too small to sleep on for one person, let alone two. Which would leave her with two options; one, brave Alya’s snoring and try to sleep in her own bed, or two, sleep pressed against a half-naked Adrien Agreste. Her slightly inebriated mind found option two very _very_ appealing.

“If you don’t mind…” she started, putting her cup down on her coffee table.

His smile was lazy and carefree as he let her into the blankets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I was listening to PILLOWTALK while writing the last half of this chapter and I just kinda had to you know.
> 
> I was considering making Adrien be masturbating when Marinette went out for her late night drink but I'm not BullySquadess and I'm a fluff writer at heart. I'll leave the sin to them.


	6. Chapter VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a whole bunch of shit happens and it's great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah I'm so happy I got this done. It was supposed to have Ladynoir in it but it was long already and I suck at writing Ladynoir. However, I am very proficient in writing Adrienette and you get a shit ton in this chapter.
> 
> Also thank you all for the kind words in the comments! But just to clarify, I wasn't comparing myself to BullySquadess, just merely commenting on the fact that I can't wrie sin whereas she is the sin mother.
> 
> And all you comment theorists with your ALYA IS GONNA FLIP SHIT you all are beautiful and I was tempted to make Adrien and Mari wake up before Alya but I'm not cruel.  
> Enjoy!

“Mari,” a whiny, tired voice made Marinette snap awake. “If you’re going to wake up earlier than your alarm, which you never fucking do, at least turn it off before it- WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.”

Marinette sighed, her sleepy haze dulling her thoughts as she lied back down, curling against the body draped over her. His arms were wrapped over her waist, her shirt had ridden up, leaving him with bare skin to brush his fingers across. His face, a face that had been all over teenaged Marinette’s walls, was pressed against her shoulder, his forehead against her neck and his lips just barely brushing her collarbone.

“Get up, you pieces of shit. I knew you were fucking when I came in, that’s what all the banging sounds were when I knocked! You were _literally_ banging!” A pillow clipped Marinette’s face but the hit was mostly taken by the boy lying on top of her.

She groaned, her sleepy state not remembering, or bothering to remember, the person she had fallen asleep with. “Alya, can you please be a little quiet?” she whispered, suddenly painfully aware of the pulsing in her head.

“NO! You lied to me I will never forgive you for it.” Alya crossed her arms over her chest.

A blond head of hair emerged from where it was buried in Marinette’s shoulder, his green eyes full of sleepiness. His usually perfectly styled hair was a mass of bedraggled blond waves. Marinette’s chest ached. _I have just spent a night tangled up with Adrien Agreste._

“Alya,” he groaned, burying his face back into Marinette’s shoulder. “Please keep your voice down.” his voice was muffled by her shirt.

Marinette’s heart began pounding against her chest, bringing her to a fully aware state. “It’s uh not what it looks like?” she began, her mind turning to mush in the panic.

“Really? Because it _looks like_ you snuck out of your room to fuck the boy you’ve been pining after since high school.”

“Please shut up, Alya.” Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, trying to untangle her limbs from a very uncooperative Adrien.

He, thankfully, sat up, leaving every part of her body free from his weight. She tried not to be too disappointed. “Yeah, Marinette just left her room because you were snoring too loudly so I offered to let her sleep on the couch too.” he gave a small, embarrassed smile.

“Why are you shirtless?” Alya was not going to believe a single word out of their mouths, Marinette was sure.

“I didn’t want to sleep in my clothes. They were too uncomfortable.” he, bless him, answered completely honestly. Nevertheless, it did nothing to drench the fire Alya was working up.

“I’m going to be late to class.” Marinette threw off her blankets, avoiding Adrien’s stare as she stormed off into her bathroom to ready herself.

“You didn’t think of that when you were hooking up with Adrien, did you?” Alya called after her.

Adrien began his retaliation but Marinette shut the door, his words more or less muffled. She leaned against the sink and stared at herself in the mirror.

There were dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep she’d gotten from Alya’s perpetual loud snoring. Her blue eyes had dulled to a grey in the half asleep state she was still in. Her hair was loose, bedraggled, her clothes ruffled. She could suddenly see why Alya jumped to sex.

She groaned, turning away from her reflection and burying her face in her hands. When had things gone so wrong? Why was this her life?

However, the echoes of Adrien’s fingers brushing her lower back made her heart pound and her lips turn up in a small smile. 

She groaned. She was supposed to be with Chat. She loved Chat. Adrien just dug up memories that felt real. Chat was real. Whatever was happening now would end soon, she was sure.

She wondered vaguely, as she squeezed toothpaste onto her brush, if she could just live in her bathroom forever. She scratched the thought, Adrien was out there with Alya, alone.  
He was either going to be mauled or interrogated until he passed out.

With that thought in mind, she brushed her teeth quickly but thoroughly and ran a brush through her hair before steeling herself and leaving the bathroom.

Adrien, now wearing a shirt but still no pants, was standing in front of three bowls of cereal and pouring milk into them. He glanced up at her, a smile overtaking his features. He grabbed a bowl and walked over before placing it in her hands.

“Thank you for letting me stay over last night.” Color rose to his cheeks. His green eyes flickered over her face before planting a soft kiss to her forehead.

“I-I’m sorry Alya is so…” she trailed off, staring into her bowl.

He laughed. “I get it, don’t worry.” he bit his lip. “Listen, the plow isn’t supposed to come by until later so I can’t call a cab until then. Is it okay if I just stay here? I don’t mean to overstay my visit I just-”

She shook her head. “Say no more. Stay as long as you need to.” the words were out of her mouth before she could think of the consequences. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn’t turn him out into the cold snow.

His expression of relief had her heart skittering in her chest. “I’ll make it up to you.”

She shook her head but said no more on the subject. “Where is Alya?”

“In your room. She said she was going to find a towel or something in your closet so she could shower.” he shrugged.

Marinette’s bowl clattered to the floor. _“Fuck.”_ she hissed before rushing into her room, ignoring Adrien’s exclamation.

She was fucked. How many days in a row was this? 3? 4?

~

He didn’t understand what was going on until he followed Marinette into her room to find Alya holding up her sketchbook. The drawing that had been so beautifully drawn had screwed them over.

Marinette had her hand slapped over her mouth, Alya gave them the most smug little grin, and Adrien himself stood stalk still, his face completely flushed.

“Have an explanation for this, too, do you?” Alya raised an eyebrow, tapping her foot.

“It’s not Adrien!” Marinette exclaimed. “It’s… um… Chat Noir!”

 _Well, you’re not wrong there_. Adrien was pretty sure his knees were about to give due to the stress of the situation. Dear, sweet Marinette had only tried to cover it up but little did she know that she had just made the whole thing ten times worse.

“Chat Noir.” Alya deadpanned.

“Yes! Chat Noir! I was just uh thinking about what Chat could look like under all the leather and the mask and everything so I decided to draw it- to practice nude models of course. Does it look like Adrien? I never noticed must have done it subconsciously or something!” she rambled nervously. “I mean Adrien looks nothing like Chat Noir, I don’t know where you’d ever get the idea-”

“Just tell her, Marinette.” the words burst from Adrien’s lips before he could think it over. “It’s fine, as long as word doesn’t get out.”

She turned and looked at him, panic and the words are you sure? danced in her blue gaze. He nodded and put on his best model grin before stepping forward and placing his hand on her shoulder.

“You’re Chat Noir?!” Alya exclaimed.

Marinette snorted. “Of course he isn’t.”

“Then what is it?!”

“A few days ago I-” Adrien began but Marinette cut him off.

“We’re dating!” The words burst from her lips, sending Adrien reeling.

“What!” Alya squealed.

“What?” Adrien bent and whispered to Marinette.

“We’ll talk about it later.” she said through her clenched smile. “Yeah! Sorry we were being ridiculous it’s still a little new.”

She nudged him. “Right! Yeah, we’re dating!” he said, the words completely unfamiliar on his lips.

Alya and Marinette squealed together but his mind was far away. Why on Earth would Marinette put herself in a situation like this? She’d have to pretend to be dating him until Alya leaves. When did she say that would happen? Sunday. Today was Wednesday. Four whole days of pretending to be dating him?

She still wanted to keep it a secret. Marinette had virtually nothing to lose but Adrien could lose his name recognition, his father would be upset with him, he could make sure Adrien never saw another modelling job again. Gabriel Agreste was a firm believer that exposing your body for modelling jobs was not at all classy and would ruin one’s reputation. Which meant she was doing this for him.

Adrien smiled down at her as she spoke. Her cheeks were flushed prettily, her blue eyes bright. With that expression on her face, it wouldn’t be hard to convince anyone that they were dating. 

Alya, eyes slightly narrowed in scepticism, nodded. “Well, I’m happy for you both. I’m going to head out, interview a few people who were akumatized and such. It isn’t snowing that hard. Adrien, it’s really nice of you to help Marinette practice her art.” she smiled.

“What can I say, I’m a great boyfriend.” he chuckled nervously.

Alya flounced into the bathroom. Moments later, a soft humming and the sound of pattering water could be heard.

~

Marinette turned to Adrien as soon as Alya left the room. She hoped her expression displayed the apologies she was about to spew. “Adrien, I’m so sorry I just you just sounded so resigned and I promised I would keep it a secret and honestly, teasing from Alya and her interrogations is nothing compared to you losing your jobs and-”

His lips against her cheek stilled her blabbering mouth. “You are the most selfless person I have ever met ever.” he took her face in his hands, lifting it so her eyes locked on his. “Thank you.”

“I should have been more careful, it’s my fault we’re in this mess.” she murmured, avoiding his gaze.

“I’m pretty sure it’s my fault, Princess.” he chuckled.

“I should have hid the sketchbook as soon as the paint was dry.” she whispered.

“I shouldn’t have offered to help you finish. I’m pretty sure that was overstepping boundaries. But I don’t regret it. It really is a beautiful painting.” his voice was impossibly soft.

“Assigning blame isn’t going to do anything. We’ll just ride this out until Sunday and it’ll all be over.” she sighed.

“Hey, you started it.” he teased, sliding his hands from her face to her waist, drawing her into a hug. She submitted, rising to her toes to wrap her arms around him. “Don’t hug me when you’re not wearing pants.” she mumbled into his shirt.

She could feel his laugh rumble in his chest.

They didn’t spring apart until Alya emerged, dressed in jeans and a blazer. She shot them a knowing smirk before bidding them goodbye and leaving the apartment.

Marinette checked the time. Quarter past 8. Panic rose to her throat as she grabbed her phone and checked her emails. She relaxed, seeing that her classes had been cancelled due to harsh weather conditions. She sighed, looking at Adrien.

“How far away do you live?” she asked as he made himself comfortable on her couch.

“About fifteen minutes away. Why?” he cocked an eyebrow.

“You need clothes.” she said matter-of-factly.

“I’m good for today, I keep a spare set of clothes in case mine get ruined during shoots and things.” he smiled.

“Forecast says you’ll be snowed in until about Friday.” she looked at him apologetically.

He shrugged. “As long as you’ll have me here, I’ll stay.”

 _Like a stray cat._ She thought absently. “You’ll need clothes. We should go shopping or… I have fabric. I could maybe design something?”

“Oh no, please don’t. I’m sure you need the material for assignments. I’ll just go out and buy some clothes.” he shrugged.

“There are a few stores across the street. I’ll come with you later today.” she set her phone down and sat by him.

“Wanna work on your painting?” he asked suddenly.

“You still want to help me finish it?” she stared at him.

“Of course. I made a commitment, Princess.” he winked.

“I’m starting to think you just really don’t like wearing clothes.” she laughed.

He sighed theatrically. “I can’t be so rude as to keep my hidden wonders to myself, now can I?”

She shook her head. “You’re so considerate.”

Moments later, Adrien was in her shower as he had opted to bathe before stripping naked. She had set up her things, staring at the sketch of his face, wondering when seeing him naked suddenly became so casual.

“Everything seems to be going well!” Tikki flew from her room to hover in front of Marinette’s face.

“Oh, Tikki! I haven’t fed you yet I’m so sorry!” Marinette took the kwami into her hands.

“It’s okay. I managed to grab some cookies earlier. While you and Adrien and ALya were talking in your room.” she smiled.

“I owe you a thousand cookies. It’s just been a very interesting few hours.” Marinette sighed.

“What did I miss?” Tikki asked.

“Well Adrien and I are fake dating now, to hide the whole art class thing.”

Tikki giggled, making Marinette pout. “Wow, you must be thrilled.”

“Tikki,” Marinette groaned. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I know I have you and Alya and Adrien now but I just feel kinda lonely.”

“You miss Chat.” Tikki translated.

Marinette thought it over before nodding. “I just feel like he’s the only one who could make it okay.” she whispered.

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki hovered over her head, stroking her hair. “You’re seeing him tonight, right?”

She was supposed to meet him yesterday, but they had a rule during colder months; if it snows too hard, move patrol to the next day. She had never wished for an akuma attack before this whole mess.

“Ready, Mari?” Adrien emerged from the bathroom, only a towel around his waist. His hair was damp but not dripping, droplets of water slid down his golden skin. She was extra fucked today.

Tikki hid behind her head, slowly sinking into Marinette’s school bag.

Marinette herself nodded.

~

Tikki slid into the pocket of Marinette’s bag, praying that Adrien hadn’t seen her red form zip behind Marinette.

She squealed but slapped a hand over her mouth, hoping no one heard, as she landed on something soft and squishy.

“What the fuck is that?” the soft thing exclaimed.

Tikki paused, the voice was all too familiar. “Plagg?!” she hissed.

“Tikki?!” Plagg screeched, his astonishment plain in his voice. “Marionette or whatever is Ladybug?”

“Hush, keep your voice down. Adrien is Chat Noir?” Tikki whispered. “Well that solves all of Marinette’s problems. Ugh, what is that smell?”

“Cheese. I had to break into my emergency cheese because dumbass over there is too busy wooing or whatever to feed me.” Plagg huffed.

“Can we focus? We aren’t supposed to know the other’s real identity, Plagg! Not before they figure it out!”

“Honestly, Tikki, it’s fine. This happens every few decades and you freak out every time.”

“I am not freaking out!”

“Just hush. You’re only allowed to stay here as long as you’re quiet.”

Tikki huffed but didn’t say another word.

“Thank you.”

~  
Marinette had no reasons to be nervous. Adrien was her friend and now fake-boyfriend. She had seen him naked twice before.

Regardless, the butterflies in her stomach turned her insides to mush.

Her flesh-toned paint on the end of her brush, she resolved to just go for it, like ripping off a bandage.

Her eyes lifted from her palette to his wand. _Bad idea, bad idea, not ripping off a bandage, more like stabbing yourself, dammit Marinette._ Color rose to her cheeks but she braved it, getting the worst, or best maybe, part out of the way first.

His staff was… a good size. Her knowledge was limited but Alya’s wasn’t and Marinette received stories on every man and woman Alya had ever bedded. So she knew that his was average, maybe larger but definitely not smaller. It was pink-tipped and about as wide as her wrist but it was hard to tell, depth perception and all that.

She gave herself five seconds. Five seconds to squeeze her eyes shut and steel herself. _Okay Marinette, you can do this. It’s not like you haven’t done this before._

She opened her eyes again, already laying down her base color. As it settled, she let her attention wander to his legs, coaxing the color to coat his remaining limbs. Mixing darker color into the flesh-toned paint on her palette, Marinette mimicked the shadows that were thrown across her skin. Shoving her original brush between her teeth, she took a clean one, smudging the dark color with light to create a harmonious marriage of color on his skin. _Done, done. It’s done. You did it._ Marinette congratulated herself with a private smile before schooling her features.

She did her best to portray the glowing effect the right light had thrown on his skin. She carved lines into his legs and thighs, blending and painting.

She sighed, moments- maybe hours, time usually bled into itself when she painted- later, more or less satisfied with her painting.

She took her cadmium yellow, combined it with her white and set out to do his hair. Hair and face, the worst parts. It was easy to get wrong and hard to fix. A single accidental brush stroke would ruin it all.

She worked meticulously, the hair texture being coped well enough.

His face was a killer, the high cheekbones and perfect contours were nearly impossible to capture. She managed but she was sure it could have been better. His eyes were left. She looked up at him, those summery eyes staring at her warmly. His eyes were so expressive. That look that shot an arrow into her chest could be impossible to paint. The color would be a bitch to mix, green but yellower than forest green, and much lighter as well.

Sighing, she plopped her dirty brushes into the murky water at her side. She took her smallest brush, just a few short hairs. She mixed that soft green color and painted his starry eyes.

Finished, she sighed, completely relieved. She wiped sweat from her brow, suddenly aware of the paint covering her hands. She had even managed to get it on her elbows.

“Finished?” Adrien called.

She nodded, waving him over.

~

It was breathtaking. Marinette had spun him in a light that made him seem elegant and beautiful. The person in her painting had eyes that were kind and welcoming, he had limbs, muscles, sharp angles. His body was every bit as intimidating as he felt as Chat Noir but his face and the languid way his limbs were displayed were all Adrien.

Marinette had somehow created a perfect medley of Chat and Adrien with a single painting. Suddenly, Chat and Adrien weren’t two separate personas, but a single combined one.

“Well?” she looked up at him. “What do you think?”

“I- god, Marinette. It’s perfect. You’re perfect. Everything is perfect.” 

For the first time in the ten minutes he had been standing there, he looked at her. Her blue eyes were starry, filled with gratitude. There was paint all over her face. He reached out and brushed at a spot of green on her cheek with his thumb. Her smooth lips parted before smiling at him warmly.

“Glad you like it.” she said. “After all the trouble we’ve been through to get it done, it’s such a relief-”

His arms came around her, pulling her up from her stool and wrapping her in a tight hug. _‘Don’t hug me when you’re not wearing pants.’_ she had said. At least he had his towel on.

She let him hug her for a while before speaking up again. “What time is it?”

“Mmm… about half past two. Why?” he let her go to check his phone.

“Alya should be back soon.” she sighed.

“In that case, I’m going to put some pants on.” he flicked her nose affectionately, not exactly sure what had come over him.

Her nose scrunched up endearingly before she began packing her things. He grabbed his bag and disappeared into the restroom.

Shutting the door behind him, he slipped on his underwear and opened the smallest pocket to let Plagg out. He braced himself for the lecture he was going to receive for not feeding his kwami.

The delay that followed the unzipping of the pocket made concern burst like a flower in his chest. “You okay, Plagg?”

“Fine! I’m fine I just got my uh foot stuck in the junk you keep in here.” Plagg said hastily.

“Need some help?” Adrien reached into his bag and wrapped his hand around Plagg. A sharp pain exploded on his knuckle, making him yank his hand back hastily. “What the hell, Plagg, why’d you bite me?!”

“Watch your language. And uh you know I don’t like it when you grab me!” Plagg yelled from the pocket.

adrien heard a faint slapping sound before Plagg emerged from the bag, rubbing his face and scowling at the pocket.

“So what’s up, kid?” Plagg looked up at Adrien.

“Okay what just happened?” Adrien crossed his arms over his chest.

“Why are you still naked? Put some clothes on, have some fucking decency.” the kwami rolled his eyes.

“What were you doing in there?”

“Getting my foot unstuck! I told you!” Plagg hovered over Adrien’s slightly bleeding hand. “Is that cheese?”

Adrien narrowed his eyes. “Yes but it’s for later because I know you broke into your emergency cheese.” He reached into his pocket, dropping the cheese in there. A small squeal had him looking up at Plag, confusion in his eyes as Plagg smushed his small hands into his face.

Adrien grabbed the squealing thing and pulled it out of his bag, finding a red, vaguely bug-like creature. “What the-”

“Ew! There was a bug in there the whole time gross! Let it out, Adrien!” Plagg shrieked. 

“What- but-” Adrien began but stopped as the red creature flew from his grip and left through the crack in the door.

“Um… okay…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just has everything; sin, fluff, fake dating, reveal tease, Adrienette, everything.
> 
> Also Adrien in a button down and boxers making cereal is my aesthetic.
> 
> Quick question, do y'all want more painting scenes? Like the painting is done now and we're gonna head into reveal territory so let me know if you more of the Art School AU part incorporated.
> 
> I'm trying to finish this up in 15 chapter or less because after 15 it's like yes I'm in hell let's never finish this fic ever and just keep posting chapters until I inevitably get bored and stop posting and leave you all wanting more.
> 
> Well thank you for reading, have a nice day/night!


	7. Chapter VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the chapter is really short but a lot happens again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah I'm sorry for the late update I had tests and things and they sapped my momentum with this fic which is why this chapter is kinda poorly written. Also kinda but not really sex warning in the chapter? I'm sure those of you reading do not need a warning because you've been reading about Marinette openly staring at Adrien's crotch but just in case.
> 
> I wanted to get this out after heartstrings and Sealed Away updated because what the fuck is up with these fic writers like I don't want angst in my fluff please no so I thought I'd make up for your heartaches with some awkward Adrienette.
> 
> Enjoy!

“My Lady,” Chat grinned.

It hadn’t been hard getting out of Marinette’s house. She had had to leave to run errands or something. He didn’t ask too many questions about it, it made it easier to sneak out.

Ladybug turned to him from where she was sitting with her feet dangling from the ledge of the building. She patted the area next to her, waving him over to sit.

He did so obediently, his heart fluttering wildly when she rested her head against his shoulder. Her hair was flecked with the snow that was still falling gently from the clouds in the sky, her blue eyes darkened to a navy in the moonlight. He was inexplicably reminded of Marinette.

She sighed. “We need to talk.”

He didn’t have much dating experience but he knew those four words could either make him want to float up into the sky or make him shatter. “Yeah.” he murmured as his hands sought hers.

“I honestly don’t know any other way to put it,” she seemed wound up, as tight as the string on her yoyo, but he caught the blush rising to her cheeks. “I do like you, Chat, and I definitely want to date you but I just don’t know how it would work because we barely see each other outside of akuma attacks and patrols but I want to make it work and-”

“We can make it work.” he turned to her and took her face in his hands. Not for the first time, he wished this costume didn’t come with gloves.

“I feel like it all goes back to us revealing our identities and of course I would want to I just want to think rationally, it could complicate so many things, it could endanger the people we love, I know you understand, Chaton.” she whispered.

“My lady, all I want is you. You’re all I’ve ever wanted and I will have you if you’ll have me too. I would move heaven and earth to make us work.” he touched his forehead to hers, unable to stop his smile as her lashes fluttered shut.

“Dammit, Chat, you can’t say things like that!” she grumbled.

He chuckled quietly. “Why not?”

“Because I want to say things like that but I can’t.” she whined, making him chuckle. “There is something you need to know, I don’t know if it’ll change your mind or…”

“My mind hasn’t changed in the ten years I’ve known you, it’s not changing any time soon.” he kissed her nose.

“I- well not me, my civilian self- is helping out a friend by ‘dating’ him. It’s not real or anything.” she looked up at him with those goddamn blue eyes and all her words left his head.

He shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

Her hand reached out and tugged on his bell, drawing him into a kiss. It was kind of kiss he’d look back on in a few years and still feel butterflies wreak havoc on his insides. Her lips slid over his, his hand rested on her lower back to draw her closer.

The rest of the night was spent whispering, laughing, kissing, blushing. He could never forget the image of her blushing cheeks and tentative blue gaze.

“My lady, what’s your kwami like?” he traced circles into her back gently. At some point of the night, her legs had been thrown over his lap, her head rested against his chest.

“Tikki? She’s very sweet. She’s like my conscience.” she chuckled, shaking her head. “Um she’s red and spotted, she vaguely looks like a bug. What about yours?”

“Plagg’s a little asshole.” he pressed his lips to her hair. “He kind of looks like a cat but not really. He’s very expensive to feed.” he groaned. “Of course I get stuck with the kwami who only eats gourmet cheeses.” At that very moment, Chat’s miraculous began beeping. He grumbled. “I have to go, Bugaboo.”

She giggled at the name before lifting her chin to kiss him. His heart skittered wildly in his chest. Disappointment coursed through his veins as she lifted her legs from his to let him go. “Bye, Chaton. See you Saturday?”

He nodded before leaving, upset that Plagg was making him leave his lady but very eager to see his princess.

~

Marinette got home seconds after Adrien, wanting a few moments to reminisce in the place she’d seen pure, unguarded love in her kitten’s eyes.

“You’re home late.” Adrien teased. “I was getting worried, _girlfriend._ ”

She laughed and shoved him playfully. Reminded that she was _not_ Ladybug and he was _not_ Chat Noir, she schooled her features into a Marinette-like smile.

“God, keep it PG, you two.” Alya rolled her eyes, sarcasm in her tone.

Marinette grinned at her as she plopped down on the couch beside her best friend. “How was interviewing?”

Alya exhaled loudly, resting her head against Marinette’s shoulder. “My ass was frozen when I got home and it was all for nothing. No one knows who Chat Noir and Ladybug are. Like who was I kidding, they don’t even know the real identities of each other.”

Adrien coughed.

Marinette sighed. “Sorry it was a dead end, Alya, but you shouldn’t give up on it.”

She cringed internally but what could she do really? As a best friend, she was supposed to be supportive but as Ladybug, she should be working to keep her identity a secret. She hadn’t even told Chat of all people who was now not only one of her closest friends but also her boyfriend.

“You’re right. It’s been a long day, I’m going to turn in early.” Alya grinned a Cheshire smile. “You both should take Marinette’s room. I should sleep on the couch, seeing as you’re a couple now.”

Marinette’s heart skittered wildly in her chest until she caught Adrien’s smile. “I’ll just go change into pajamas really quick.” she left the couch and scurried into her room, shutting the door with a dramatic sigh.

“Tikki! I’m sorry but you’re gonna have to hide out somewhere tonight. Do you mind sleeping in my school bag?” Marinette reached into her pocket and drew the snoozing kwami out.

Tikki groaned, nuzzling into Marinette’s palm. “What?”

“Adrien and I are sleeping in here together so you have to hide.” Marinette smiled apologetically.

“Oh are you? I don’t mind at all.” Tikki’s eyes opened to stare in uncharacteristic mischief.

Marinette laughed, changing quickly and tucking Tikki into her pocket before rushing outside with blankets to greet Adrien and Alya.

“I’ll take these.” Alya snatched the blankets from Marinette’s hands, ignoring Marinette’s protests. “Go on, you look insanely tired, Mari, get some sleep.”

Marinette smiled, hugging her friend, blankets and all. She found herself squealing as arms hooked under her knees and supported her back, lifting her from the ground.

“Night, Alya!” Adrien called as he carried Marinette into her room.

~

 

Adrien was in a tornado of _oh my god I’m fake dating Ladybug but also real dating Ladybug and Ladybug is Marinette I am currently standing in Ladybug’s house I’m sleeping with Ladybug holy fuck._

It was Plagg and his awful acting. It was all the ways Marinette reminded him of Ladybug. It was the kwami, Tikki, it was everything. Unless it was Alya, which was highly unlikely as he had seen Alya with Ladybug present.

Ladybug had been sitting behind him as he daydreamed of her eyes in class. Ladybug couldn’t successfully speak a string of words around him until recently. Ladybug had seen him _naked._

Somehow, the thought was less mortifying than Marinette seeing him naked. Even though they were the same person.

He looked at Marinette now. On the couch, they were smushed together inevitably. The bed, with its infinite space, left Marinette too many feet away from him. He wanted to wrap his arms around her waist and press her against his chest. He wanted to press searing kisses all over her.

Her lashes cast shadows across her face, her hair was loose, falling into her face. Her legs were drawn up as she curled in on herself, her breathing was deep and quiet.

It hadn’t taken long for Marinette to sleep. She hadn’t said much, she had been flustered and bright eyed. He had wanted to grab her immediately and yell _I’m Chat Noir and you’re Ladybug_ and maybe kiss her. Maybe.

He sighed, reaching out to brush hair from her face where it was stuck to her lips. _I know what those lips feel like._

It took ages for his panicked state of mind to finally calm until sleep came over him. But even in sleep, he dreamt of his lady.

_"Ladybug,” he murmured her name against her lips, shudders racking his body as her gloved fingertips trailed down the bare skin of his chest._

_Her lips left his, leaving him whining but they kissed along his jaw, trailing down his neck and peppering soft kisses along his collarbone. “Yes, Chat?” the words were a teasing breath of air against his skin._

_His hands tangled in her dark hair and drew her up for a heated kiss. She giggled against his lips before her tongue teased the seam of his lips. Just as his lips parted for her, her lips left his, resuming her kisses along his skin_.

 _She kissed a line down his torso, her fingers skimming his ribcage as his back arched. He was a moaning mess, hair plastered to his forehead in the heat of their encounter_.

_Her blue eyes lifted to his, Ladybug’s sexy, confident smile lighting her face. Her mask blinked off and it was Marinette who was grinning up at him like that._

“Adrien!” Marinette shook him awake, her hand pressed to his bare shoulder.

~

Marinette’s eyes had snapped open the moment the first soft whisper of a moan left Adrien’s lips. She had looked at him, wondering whether or not waking him would be a bad idea.

It wasn’t until his hips jerked that she realized if it went on all night, sleeping with Alya might be a better option.

“Adrien,” she had whispered softly, reaching her hand out to gently shake him.

He didn’t wake.

She rinsed and repeated, calling to him softly, hoping it would wake him.

It didn’t.

She didn’t want to yell at him or violently shake him awake but her voice did grow louder and her shakes less gentle.

“Adrien!”

His green eyes snapped open, unfocused until they turned on her. His chest was rising and falling as he attempted to slow his breathing.

“Good dream?” she whispered, smiling kindly.

He just stared up at her like she was rays of sunlight peaking through rainclouds. He reached out, his arms wrapping around her waist and drawing her against him. His face buried in her hair. “Mmm.” he hummed his reply.

Shrugging, she sighed into his embrace, sleep finding her once again.

~ 

Marinette was woken by the fully hard wood pressed into her thigh. She and Adrien had managed to become tangled up even with the five feet of space they had on her mattress. Instead of his body draped over hers, their bodies were pressed flush together. His legs were hopelessly tangled in hers and she could feel his fingers tangled in her hair. To say she wasn’t comfortable or a little aroused would be a blatant lie.

She wondered vaguely, in her half asleep state, if she could ignore Adrien’s rod and just go back to sleep in his arms. Her dreaming was cut off as Adrien’s hand slipped from her hair, his green eyes were locked on hers, staring at her in the way that he was last night.

“Morning.” she whispered.

His lips quirked up into a sleepy smile. “Good morning, my lady.”

The new name struck her like lightning. “What happened to ‘princess’?” she kept her tone light to mask the _you can’t call me that, Chat calls me that_ in her thoughts.

“You’re both,” he murmured. “My princess and my lady.”

She laughed, trying to brush away her paranoia in vain.

“Can we just stay for a few minutes?” he murmured softly.

She shook her head. “Nope, sorry, Adrien. Alya wakes up hungry and after the dead end yesterday, I think having breakfast ready for her would help.”

He nodded before leaning close and pressing a soft kiss to the end of her nose.

She sighed before mustering a smile and throwing the covers off, like ripping a bandage. The cold settled over her, goosebumps rising on her skin.

Adrien swore softly, adjusting the covers so they fell over his lap.

Marinette rolled out of bed, pretending not to notice as she headed into her bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh yes I decided Adrien isn't a //complete// idiot and finally finally he made the connections and drew the dots and Plagg look what you did, you fucked everything up. Also, again, so sorry for the super short chapter, I'll try to update as soon as possible to make up for it!


	8. Chapter VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which character building occurs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting so hard to get up there to that 3.5k word count now dkljfjaf just lower your standards now and forever. Also??? People actually like this fic??????? I'm so surprised??????? Thank you???? So much?????
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Adrien didn’t believe for a second that Marinette didn’t notice his morning wood. Blush rose to his cheeks at the thought. God, what an idiot he was, tangling himself up in her limbs. He knew Little Adrien wouldn’t behave in the morning and Marinette, just as intoxicating as Ladybug, would clog his thoughts and feelings. He would only be able to feel her skin against his, her hair tickling his face, her gaze on him. Whatever his body was doing wouldn’t matter to him in the moment.

Adrien couldn’t help but think that if it was Chat’s boner against Ladybug’s body, she would castrate him the moment he touched her. As Marinette, she was kind enough to let the uncomfortable situation slip. She was a dangerous combination.

He sighed, hoping a shower would alleviate the situation in his pants. The other option was… not desirable. He rolled out of bed, thoughts clouded by the heady scent of Marinette clinging to his skin.

He walked to the bathroom, hoping Alya wouldn’t be awake to notice his dick. His prayers were answered as Alya was blissfully snoring on the couch.

But, oh, Adrien had prayed for the wrong thing. He should have prayed that Marinette was in the kitchen, fixing breakfast. He should have prayed he’d remember basic manners and knock.

His hand, the one that had opened the bathroom door, fell to his side. His whole body froze, his muscles tensed and his eyes locked the bare skin of Marinette’s hip. He didn’t see anything else as Marinette’s squeal had him rushing to slam the door shut.

 _Fuck, I just saw Marinette naked_. The part of him that was wholly Adrien was in full panic mode.

 _Fuck, I just saw Ladybug naked._ The parts of his mind that were all Chat Noir whispered dreamily.

 _Stop, that’s creepy._ The Adrien part was grabbing at his own hair, panic in his green eyes.

_She’s your girlfriend._

_She doesn’t know that and even if she did, Ladybug isn’t ready for that._

The Chat parts of his mind displayed a perfectly rendered image of Marinette’s hip. Smooth, freckled skin swelled, flaring out from a slim waist and tapering again to form thighs. He could see his hand sliding over that hip, skin soft beneath his fingers. He let out an involuntary groan, his thoughts not al all helping his situation. _Stop._ He pleaded. _Marinette deserves better._

Those three words, perfect and true, echoed in his thoughts and cleansed his mind. Marinette did deserve better. She deserved a boy who wouldn’t barge uninvited into her bathroom when she was slipping into her shower. She deserved a boy who didn’t feel arousal after the situation, but overpowering guilt.

That’s what settled over him now, overpowering guilt. _She deserves better than me._

~

Adrien, fully clothed in yesterday’s clothing, was fixing breakfast.

He didn’t actually know how to make omelettes but how hard could it be really?

He had been trying, and failing, to chop green peppers when Marinette emerged, droplets still clinging to her skin. Her hair, up in a loose bun was slightly damp, the loose pieces falling into a fully reddened face.

A face that didn’t even glance at him as she scurried into her bedroom.

His chest ached with shame and guilt and he wanted to make it all better but it would be easier to just brave the snow and lie in the four feet that had accumulated. He would rather freeze to death than face Marinette.

His own face, red with shame, turned back to the unevenly and jaggedly cut green peppers.

~

Marinette was absolutely _reeling._ She felt nausea and dizziness settle over her as she stumbled into her bedroom after her shower.

 _Adrien Agreste_ had just seen her naked. His green eyes had settled on a bare patch of skin at her hip that was too close to a very private part of her that no one had ever seen, save for her family and Tikki.

She didn’t even know whether or not she should be angry with him or just embarrassed. She didn’t know how facing him would go down and honestly she just wanted to lock herself in her room forever. At least we’re even. She thought bitterly.

“Tikki!” Marinette cried out as quietly as possible. “I need your moral support!”

Tikki came zooming out of Marinette’s school bag’s pocket, hovering over Marinette’s nose. “What happened?!” Tikki exclaimed, catching sight of Marinette’s face.

Marinette groaned, peeking at the kwami through her fingers as her hands were currently smushed into her face. “Adrien saw me naked.” her words was muffled but Tikki was close enough to hear.

“What happened?” Tikki demanded, anger in her usually sweet expression.

“He came into the bathroom when I was undressing to shower.” Marinette cried.

Tikki pursed her lips before exploding into a rant. “That no-good, mannerless, horny… asshole!” TIkki clapped a hand over her mouth before dropping it indignantly. “God, Marinette, I can’t believe you’re dating him.”

“We’re not actually dating, Tikki, it’s to keep the art class thing a secret.” Marinette corrected.

“Right… fake…” Tikki shifted.

“I don’t think he did it on purpose. I think he going in to wash up and he forgot to knock. I did forget to lock the door. I’m not used to other people in the apartment.” Marinette sighed.

“Don’t place the blame on yourself! It’s Adrien’s fault, when he apologizes, which he will definitely do, don’t even try to make it seem like it was okay. Just accept it and move on. I swear, Marinette, if you say it’s okay or fine or your fault, I, myself, will make sure he knows how stupid he was being.” Tikki crossed her arms over her chest.

Marinette chuckled, rubbing the kwami’s head with her index finger affectionately. “You’re the best, Tikki.”

Tikki nodded. “You don’t take any of this from Chat, don’t take it from Adrien.”

Confusion exploded in Marinette’s head but she brushed it off as she changed quickly and left her bedroom.

She was not expecting to be met with a lopsided, overcooked omelette shoved into her hand.

“Marinette I’m so sorry, I’m so stupid honestly you should just send me out into the snow, I’ll go home I don’t need to stay and make you uncomfortable I swear I have basic manners I just don’t know what happened I’m so so so so so sorry.” Adrien’s apology melted into a single word, his green eyes filled with guilt and sincerity.

Marinette, overwhelmed by the attempted breakfast and his apology, just stared at him, completely speechless.

“Just say the word and I’ll leave you alone.” he ducked his head but she caught the sadness in his eyes.

“I don’t… want you to leave.” her voice finally came to her. “I mean, yes, you should have knocked but I should have locked the door and I guess we’re even, kinda, since I spent like over four hours uh staring at you naked so…” she blushed. “I forgive you.”

He looked at her, an expression of guilt still painted on his features. “Oh god, no Marinette I don’t deserve that honestly.” his hands lifted to her face tentatively.

Her heart began pounding. “Do you want to go?” she said softly.

“No, no.” he shook his head. “No, I just don’t think I deserve your kindness.”

“Adrien,” she covered his hands with hers. “It’s not that big of a deal, I promise.”

As the words slipped from her lips, she realized they were true. It wasn’t a big deal and they were both making it into something it isn’t.

He buried his face in her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her. “You’re ridiculous. Anyone else would send me out.” he murmured.

“You’re ridiculous. We’re friends. Friends forgive.” she chuckled.

He was quiet for a very long time. They would have stayed there for a while if Alya hadn’t woken up.

“Mmf you both actually woke up at a decent time? Surprising, since you’re always late to everything.” Alya laughed as she left the room to disappear into the bathroom.

~

Adrien had never felt forgiveness like this. Marinette was so sincere, it was impossible to believe she was faking it to coddle him or something.

He would have stayed wrapped around her forever had it not been for Alya. He had fully intended to hug her again but she had stopped him, insisting they needed to go shopping immediately.

She had grabbed a shovel and slipped snow pants on over her leggings. He had almost laughed. Her pink and white-spotted dress, very appropriate, settled over her thick waterproof pink pants.

They had left the house together, Marinette shoveling a path through the snow that the other tenants hadn’t bothered to do, as was illustrated by the footprints in the snow. He had offered to do it, knowing she would say no but also knowing it was only polite. She brushed him off, of course.

It took hours but he loved every second. The kindness of everyone else had the sidewalks icy but clear of the wall of snow that had been created.

Marinette had run back into her apartment and slipped off the snow pants before running back, breathless.

“There aren’t like high end stores here but you could probably find something nice maybe.” she gave him a lopsided smile. “Maybe I could revamp it or something, make it better if you don’t really like anything.”

He chuckled. “I don’t always wear designer clothes, Princess. But I am horrible at picking things to wear.”

She laughed. “You need help dressing yourself every morning? What will your life be without me living with you?” She shook her head.

“I’ll die without you, Mari.” He couldn’t keep the sincerity from seeping into his tone. He laughed it off. “Okay, pick something for me. I’ll get jeans, you find me a sweater or something.”

“I’m here to keep you company, not buy you a new wardrobe!” she laughed as he pouted.

“Please? I’m a horrible disaster at picking clothes and you’re a designer and I’m used to designers throwing clothes at me.”

She shook her head, still laughing quietly. “Jeans are over there. I’ll be over here. Will you die without me for a few moments?”

“Probably.” he murmured mostly to himself.

It took five minutes for Marinette to find him enough clothes to sustain his stay at her house. In those five minutes, he hadn’t even figured out which jean size he needed.

She shoved the shirts into his arms and found him two jeans before ushering him into the dressing room.

He almost _almost_ invited her into the dressing room jokingly but he managed to reign his Chat Noir tendencies.

He was halfway through pulling a blue long-sleeved shirt over his head when he heard the screaming.

“Adrien! Just stay in there, there’s an akuma attack going on outside!” Marinette called to him.

 _“Fuck.”_ He swore quietly, wrestling the shirt off him. Making sure everyone had already evacuated, he pulled Plagg from his bag and transformed.

~

 

Ladybug hated leaving Adrien in the dressing room but she honestly doubted any akuma could get to him.

She latched her yoyo on a nearby ledge, finding her chest aching as the wind blew her hair back when she swung. She hated being locked up in her apartment.

She managed to land on the akuma, who was currently playing an ear-shatteringly high note on their violin. She clapped her hands over her ears as she gripped the akuma’s back with her legs.

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir had materialized below her, his hands outstretched to pluck her out of the air if she fell.

The akuma lifted their bow from the strings before plucking the A string in a hollow, ugly melody. The waves of blue that hit her caused an aching pain in her chest, her eyes blurred with tears. Her grip loosened and she found herself free falling before landing in the safety of Chat’s grip.

“My Lady,” tears were streaming from his eyes as well. She reached out, brushing the droplets from his mask.

The melody ended and with it, the tears stopped and her chest no longer ached.

“Nice to see you again, Chat.” she kissed his cheek as he let her down.

His smile washed all the sad after effects of the akuma power away.

The akuma wielded their bow again, now playing a jaunty folk song that emitted yellow rays from the scroll of the instrument. They pointed the scroll at a civilian, the civilian immediately launching into what appeared to be a square dance.

“Have you joined the party, Chat Noir and Ladybug?” the akuma laughed. “Well, get ready to dance!”

The akuma’s vibrato shook the Earth as he turned the yellow rays on them. Ladybug shoved Chat aside, fully intending on taking the bulk of the attack. However, her stubborn kitten absolutely refused to let her do anything.

He dragged her down with him, his body covering hers from attack.

“Dumb cat.” she murmured, eliciting the brightest smile she had ever seen.

He kissed her nose before letting her up. “Purr-haps the butterfly’s in the long stick thing, my lady.”

She rolled her eyes. “No kitten.”

She grinned at him, loving the way his jaw dropped to the floor.

The akuma dropped another ear-splitting note, making them both fall to their knees. “Just give me your miraculouses and this will all be over.”

Chat struggled to his feet, cataclysm activated to combat the sound waves raining down on them. He took a few steps forward, slowed down by the push of the waves and the concentration needed for his cataclysm. He clawed at the sound waves, getting just barely close enough to reach out for the bow before his cataclysm dropped and he was thrown back.

His name ripped from her throat, followed only by the calling of her lucky charm. A black-spotted ipod landed in her hand, the device loaded with Jagged Stone music. She smirked, playing the music and turning it up as loud as the ipod could go.

“No! The classics are so much better! What is this millennial rock music!” The akuma’s violin dropped from their hands.

The blaring Jagged Stone music repelled the sound waves, giving Ladybug a clear path to the akuma.

She plucked the bow from their hand and snapped it over her leg. Cleansing the butterfly, she tossed the ipod up, letting the miraculous ladybugs cleanse the city.

Running back to her partner, she helped him from the floor, trying not to notice the huge purpling bruise on his cheek.

“Saved the day again, my lady.” he grinned, his fist outstretched.

She pressed her own knuckles to his before grabbing his bell and kissing him quickly. “Chat, did you come from that store over there?” She pointed to the store she and Adrien had gone into.

“Um yes, why?” Panic grew behind his green eyes but Ladybug brushed it off.

“Did you see Adrien Agreste? I don’t know if I mentioned him to you before, blond hair, green eyes, he was in the dressing rooms.” she bit her lip.

“Yes! He’s fine, shirtless, but fine.” he chuckled.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I have to go, my lady, I’ll see you soon.” he kissed her cheek before flipping out of sight.

~

Adrien sighed, just barely making it into the dressing room before Marinette came running for him.

“You’re okay!” she smiled, pulling back the curtain without even knocking.

Thankfully, he was fully dressed in a pair of jeans, they fit perfectly which was odd considering Marinette basically just randomly grabbed a few, and the light blue shirt. He couldn’t help but compare the color to the ring of lighter color in her eyes or that scarf his father had bought him.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Ready to head out?” He found himself reaching out to brush hair from her face.

She nodded. “You have to change back first.”

“Change back?” _Does she know is she talking about Chat am I Chat right now did I forget to release my transformation but no Plagg is in my pocket I-_

“Into your other clothes. I don’t know if they can ring it up when it’s on you.” She giggled into her fingertips.

“Oh.” he grabbed the hem of his shirt, lifting it over him. He grinned, able to hear Marinette frantically close the curtain between them. “So I was thinking about your beautiful art while I was stuck in here.”

“Were you?” she said idly.

“You should teach me when we get home. Maybe I can draw you naked.” he laughed.

“W-what?” Marinette choked.

“You should teach me how to draw. I’m awful at it. I’m awful at most things.” he pushed back the curtain, dressed in his old clothes with his new clothes in hand.

“I’m sure that’s not true.” she plucked the clothes from his hand and lead him to the register.

“It is, I’m really only good at being pretty. But I’m really _really_ good at it.” he winked.

She laughed, passing the cashier, who was a little shaken by the akuma attack, her credit card. “I don’t think anyone in Paris disagrees. But you’re good at a lot of things! Physics, math, gaming, etcetera.” she smiled up at him, taking the bag from the cashier after thanking them.

“Only you would say ‘etcetera’ out loud, Mari.” he ‘pfff’ed.

She laughed. “Only you wouldn’t notice that I finally payed for your things. Also fine I’ll teach you. But know that art is hard and it takes hard work and no one is born with natural talent and it takes practice.”

He gasped, reaching for his wallet. “Marinette! Tell me you didn’t actually pay!” he whined.

“I won.” she said with a self-congratulatory smile.

“How much was it?”

“Not telling.”

“I’ll pay you back!”

“Never.”

Their banter went back and forth until they reached home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah so much Adrien building in this chapter and setting stages for future chapters. We're winding down soon but we're not done with sin and drawing and all these antics.
> 
> Also there's a lot of posts going around talking about how the fandom views Chat and Adrien as separate but they aren't at all and like I'm really honestly trying to like mash them more together but it's just so subtle I can't deal tell me what you guys think of how I write him like I feel like I'm doing a horrible job.
> 
> And lowkey shout out to Hailee who is beautiful and perfect and I @ed her in the fic and she's great.
> 
> And again thank you all so much for actually reading this fic!


	9. Chapter IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien gets schooled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah I love this chapter. I originally had no idea what I was gonna do for it but then I ended up really liking what I wrote and it's just really cute. Just an update on the timeline real quick:
> 
> Chapter 1+2: Monday  
> End of Chapter 2+3+4+5: Tuesday  
> Chapter 6+Beginning of 7: Wednesday  
> End of Chapter 7+8+9: Thursday
> 
> Wow can you believe this is all one week it's felt like a month.
> 
> Also I'm not watching origins until it's aired in France so anything that happens in it I won't know at all so if there's any inaccurate information please don't tell me cx
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

“Mari, what are you doing?” Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder as she rummaged through her drawers.

The akuma attack had left her more or less unscathed but somehow Adrien, who she was sure was out of the way, had managed to get a large purpling bruise on his jaw.

Marinette lifted her magical salve triumphantly. She smiled, this salve had saved her ass too many times to count. Getting punched in the face was hardly felt when she was Ladybug, Tikki’s magic prevented major damage, but as soon as she was Marinette again, her face would _pulse_ with pain. The salve helped ease the bruises coloring, purple disappearing into red days earlier than it would have.

“What’s that?” he asked as she turned to face him.

“You’re hurt.” she touched his bruise lightly, a careful brush with her fingertips.

He winced, green eyes blown wide. “Oh, must have been some debris or something from outside or uh… oh.” the rest of his excuse dissolved into a sigh as she pressed her salve-coated fingers to the injury.

She laughed. “Yeah I know. This salve has saved my ass so many times. When I uh- accidentally stab myself with needles, I mean. It’s miraculous.”

His eyes glittered brightly. “You’re miraculous.”

She blushed as his eyes widened.

“I mean- I just meant that you’re really nice for uh sharing your um thing.” pink rose to his cheeks and she found herself rising to her toes to kiss his nose.

“I’ve literally been sitting here the whole time someone please tell me I’m not invisible or something.” Alya teased from where she was slumped on the couch.

Marinette flopped down on the couch next to her best friend, who laid her head on Marinette’s shoulder. “How was researching? Any leads?”

“I dunno, Mari. I don’t think this is gonna happen.” she sighed.

Marinette bit her lip, having never seen her best friend so confidence-less. Ala oozed positivity but it seemed like Ladybug had her stumped and out of hope.

_Oh._

_This is my fault._

“Honestly, Alya, if you can’t blow this case open, no one can.” Adrien smiled down at them, expression radiant if tentative. “And that isn’t even an exaggeration. I’m sure you could storm right up to Ladybug and Chat and make them confess with a single harsh stare.”

Marinette smiled, partly because that was highly unlikely and partly because of the grin on Alya’s face.

“You guys are the best.” her smile melted into a fiery glare. “It almost makes me want to forgive you for not telling me that you were two feet away from an akuma attack! I could have caught Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

Marinette laughed. “We love you Alya but we were a little too busy getting to safety.” She planted a kiss to her best friend’s cheek.

Alya chuckled. “Fine, fine you’re forgiven.”

Marinette caught Adrien out of the corner of her eye looking at her with an expression she couldn’t name. He looked like he wanted to say something.

“Well, I’m gonna go shower.” he stood up before looking at her expectantly, playfulness in his eyes. He cocked an eyebrow. “You coming?”

Alya spat everywhere as Marinette choked.

He laughed. “I need Nino around to high-five me for that one.” he winked before turning on his heel, disappearing into the bathroom.

“Well, Marinette, I’m proud of you. You’re dating a model who is simultaneously the most disgusting nerd to ever exist.” Alya patted her back.

“He’s _ridiculous._ ” Marinette gasped.

~

Adrien, his self-congratulatory grin having melted away, transformed as silently as he could into Chat Noir. He sent a quick message via staff to Ladybug before releasing his transformation.

Plagg gasped theatrically as he rested in Adrien’s palm. “What was that for?”

“I have to tell her I know, Plagg. I have to. I can’t take it anymore. I feel _guilty_ every time I see her. I wasn’t supposed to know.” The hand that wasn’t gripping Plagg was shoved deep into his golden hair. “I don’t want to lose her forever because I was being stupid.” he whispered, sliding to the cool floor.

“Hey, kid.” Plagg lifted a paw, shaking from exhaustion. “If anything, it’s our fault, mine and Tikki’s. We weren’t careful, we weren’t supposed to interfere.”

“I shouldn’t have asked about her kwami.” he murmured, half-listening to Plagg’s consoling words.

“Adrien, go take a shower, you smell, I can’t believe Marinette hasn’t said anything about it. After your goddamn shower you’re going to go see Ladybug and fix this so I don’t have to see you upset anymore. It makes my cheese taste bad. Do you hear me?”

Adrien looked up at his kwami. Plagg was family, from what Adrien understood family was like. They teased you, bothered you, but they stood by you and supported you blindly.

“Good. Now I’m gonna nap in your pocket, get me camembert soon. Don’t sing in the shower. And don’t strip until I’m out of sight. Marinette should be the only one looking at _Little Adrien_ now and forever.”

Adrien found himself grinning as he slipped into the shower.

~

Marinette left Alya on the couch and immediately locked the door to her bedroom before finding a pillow to scream into. She screamed until her voice was hoarse before slamming the pillow back down onto her bed and looking up at Tikki.

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asked softly.

“No I’m not okay. Because I think Adrien is Chat.” saying the words out loud made her lungs knot up.

It wasn’t that Adrien being Chat was _bad_ but there were so many thing that made the situation horribly complicated if he was. 

“Really? What makes you say that?” TIkki hovered over her nose as she flopped back onto the bed.

“The bruise.” she whispered.

“Bruise?”

“Chat was bruised when the akuma attacked. Adrien was bruised in the same place and had no real explanation for it.” she was tempted to scream again.

“Are you sure?” Tikki asked cautiously.

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Do you know something? You know something.”

Panic flashed in the kwami’s eyes before being masked. “I know plenty of things! But not about Chat or Adrien. At all.”

“Tell me.” Marinette pleaded, smugness filled her as Tikki broke under her blue-eyed stare.

“No.” Tikki pursed her lips.

“So you know something!” Marinette sat up abruptly, Tikki knocking into her forehead. “Sorry! What do you know!”

“Nothing!” Tikki rubbed her head.

Marinette tapped her lip, eyes squinted as she analyzed the kwami’s expression. “Either Adrien is definitely Chat or definitely not.”

“I’m not saying a wor- Chat sent a message!” TIkki gasped.

“It’s still weird that you can just tell. Transform me!” Marinette called.

A few sparkles and ribbons later, Ladybug was standing in her place.

 _Meet me at the usual place in 30._ It read.

 _Weird._ She thought. _We just saw each other earlier. What could he want?_

~

“My lady.” he breathed as she slipped into view.

The wind blew her hair back slowly, her ribbons flapping in the breeze. The Eiffel Tower’s lights lit her blue eyes. She was glowing in the Parisian air. He sighed.

“What happened, what’s wrong?” she stepped forward, her fingertips touching his cheek.

His hands lifted to her face as he pressed his forehead against hers. “I have something important to tell you.”

Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth, worry in her oceanic gaze as she nodded.

His throat closed, only letting air slide into his lungs when he wasn’t looking at her. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I know you didn’t want- I know you didn’t want us to know each other’s civilian identities but I… I think I figured it out, I wasn’t even trying I swear, it happened and I’m so sorry.” he last three words slipped by as a whisper. “I meant to tell you the very next time I saw you but the akuma attack and…” he opened his eyes, finding her fingers encircling her wrists.

“Who do you think I am?” she whispered.

“Marinette.” his voice broke over her name. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Her lips parted in surprise, the blue in her eyes darkening. Her dark lashes lifted as her eyes widened. It was all Marinette. Marinette with Ladybug’s mask. “How?” her hands dropped to her sides.

“If I tell you, I might reveal my identity and I don’t know if you’d want to know.” he murmured, his mind numbed. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking which was rare for the duo.

“I don’t- do I know you?” she breathed.

He nodded.

“How long? Have I known you, not how long have you known Marinette is Ladybug.” she was taking it surprisingly well. He had expected to be thrown off the Eiffel Tower.

“Maybe as long as I’ve known Ladybug, maybe a little less.”

Then, to his surprise, she laughed. Her giggles rang in his ears like little bells. He wanted to kiss her.

“Sorry, Chat,” she smiled ruefully at his pout. “You just look so upset about it I…” her face fell. It was an image that he never wanted to see on her face again. “Do you not like Marinette?”

His pout became a smile. “No one can just _not_ like Marinette.”

“She’s just not what you expected is she?” her eyes were inexplicably filled with sadness, sadness he wanted to absorb so she never had to feel it again.

“What do you mean?” he murmured, as he stepped closer.

“I meant I’m not anything like Ladybug in that life. I’m just Marinette.”

Then he kissed her, Just crashed his lips against hers, fingers sliding into her hair. He pulled away, breathless. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng is everything you are but more. I can’t explain it, she’s just as impulsive, headstrong, and beautiful as you are. But she’s also sweet and cute and clumsy and,” he shook his head. “There is nothing not to love about her.”

Her fingers skimmed his chest as she sought his collar. Finding purchase, she drew him into a careful kiss, his heart thundered wildly. “Don’t tell me who you are now. I want to figure it out myself. If I don’t figure it out by patrol on Saturday, then you can tell me.” her eyes glittered. “It can be like a game. You like games, don’t you kitty?” From one sentence to the other, her lids dropped, her tone sultry. _Marinette._

He kissed her nose. “Can I drop clues?”

She laughed. “No. You’ve already left me a pretty big one.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “What clue?”

She patted his cheek. “All in good time, kitten.”

~

Adrien was home when Marinette returned which almost _almost_ destroyed her Chat Noir is Adrien theory. His lips were a little bruised, a shade of pink that was just a shade darker than the natural color of his lips. Probably a result of kissing. Kissing _her._

He smiled up at her from the couch. “You owe me an art lesson.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not gonna be fun.”

The words _we’ll see about that_ were painted on his face as she left to find her pencils and sketchbook.

“Okay. Take this.” she passed him her 2H pencil, fingers skimming his. “It’s a 2H pencil. That means the lead is harder which makes the lines drawn with it lighter. It’s better for sketching, especially for beginners. That’s my only one but I can pretty much work with any of the pencils without creating harsh lines.”

He nodded, green eyes conveying utmost interest in whatever she’s talking about.

She picked up her 2B. “This is a 2B. The lead is softer so it’ll make harder lines but if you sketch with it, it’ll still be easy to erase. Sketching is _very important._ ” she poked his nose. “If you don’t sketch, you’ll have ugly unerasable lines all over your paper. That’s the last thing we want.”

She opened her sketchbook to the last pages, ripping out of the very last two blank ones.

“Marinette!” he gasped.

She looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“Don’t rip papers out of your nice sketchbook for a dumb lesson!”

She smiled at him, his panicked expression too endearing. “It’s fine, I have a million of these.” She passed him one. “So I like to sketch by holding the other end of my pencil. You can’t hold the pencil like you’re about to write an essay for Mrs. Plouffe.”

He chuckled at the mention of their high school English teacher.

“So holding the end of the pencil, not like the very end just like the top half, gives you less control which means lighter strokes. The sketches are usually messier but it doesn’t matter because it erases really easily.”

She demonstrated on her paper, sketching a few quick lines. She smiled up at him encouragingly as he mimicked the action, a few experimental lines spiralling from his pencil. She bit her lip. _How are you supposed to critique the person you’re in love with when everything they do is perfect to you?_

“Um okay try to erase them now.” she passed him her eraser.

He dragged the erase across the lines, erasing the majority of the line but a faint line was still very visible. He pouted.

She laughed. “Yeah, it’ll take some practice. Try it like this,” she covered his hand with hers, leaning over his shoulder. His face, originally turned to the blank paper, was turned to her. His green eyes flickering over her face, a slight smile on his face. “See it erases really easy now.”

Her face, she knew, was hopelessly red, his summery gaze still playing her like the last akuma with his violin. She watched him sketch a few more experimental strokes, an arrow stuck through her heart. It was the most adorable sight she had ever seen. His eyes were determined, his lips pressed together, his tongue peeking out from them just a little. His brows were furrowed, creasing his forehead. God she wanted to kiss him.

“Okay. What next?” He smiled.

“Shapes. Circle, square, triangle, rectangle, and if you get the hang of it, try a star.” she sketched each shape easily, drawing a few lines out of place to demonstrate the utmost importance of sketching.

He nodded, returning to his work. “So when do I get to paint?”

She laughed. “That’s a very advanced lesson. But maybe you’ll get to it faster than I did. Adults have better motor skills than children so you’ll probably get through the lessons faster.”

“What’s after sketching?”

“Colored pencils. But not like Crayola, you can probably skip to my nice prismacolors. I don’t use them much anyway. The pigment is better than those cheap craft colors and the color transfers really easily.”

He stopped his sketching, looking up at her with a gorgeous smile lighting his features. “You’re cute.”

“Wh-What makes you say that?” she blushed.

“You talk about all these things so passionately.” he smiled. “It’s adorable.”

She blushed, words not functioning in her throat anymore as he returned to his paper.

“So when do I get to draw people, then?”

“People are really hard. All the limbs and the proportions and the contours and the everything. It gives me a headache just thinking about it.” she sighed. “When I design clothes I just draw like rough drawings of people of different body types and different skin tones, nothing too fancy. But for class I have to do the advanced stuff.”

“Why are you in art school anyway? You should be interning under like amazing fashion designers or something. You should be designing your own clothes already.” he said absently.

“I have to get a degree in the arts to expand my resume. Then I’ll apply for internships, unpaid and paid. I’ll probably get unpaid at first though, the fashion industry doesn’t usually pay the interns who basically just watch people sew.” she sighed. “Then the company that accepts me as an intern will promote me to paid intern where I’ll be sewing all the fashion probably. I doubt I’ll ever to get to actually design under someone famous.”

“Done! And I seriously think you’ll eventually have your own lines, people will pay millions to wear Dupain-Cheng clothing. I’ll model for you. For free.” he winked.

She laughed. “I don’t think your father will be happy you’re volunteering as a model for a competitor. Besides, I won’t be able to find other models so you’ll have to wear all the clothing. You’d look great in a dress though.”

He chuckled. “Oh, I know, I have experience.” at her raised eyebrow, he flicked her nose. “You’ll know the story soon. You probably already do. Now, look at my star, I worked really hard on it.”

She leaned over to glance at his paper. His star, rectangle, triangle, and squares were all perfect. His circle was endearingly lopsided and the heart he’d added was asymmetrical. “Circles are hard so I won’t blame you for that one. Besides, you’ll probably never have to draw a perfect circle ever in your life anyway. So we’ll move on to something more advanced.”

He nodded, excitement lighting his face.

“So everything is made up of these basic shapes. Well, not the star. Like um birds,” she drew on oval on her paper. “That’s the body.” She drew a smaller oval a little way away from the first one. “That’s the head.” she connected them with two curved lines. “Neck.” She added a triangular beak, feathers to its butt, and stick-like legs. “It’s really simplistic but these are the basics.”

“You do it so easily.”

“Practice.” she booped his nose with her pencil.

His nose scrunched up. “I’m going to draw you one day. And it’ll be the best thing ever and you’ll frame it and keep it forever.”

She laughed.

“You can model a dress you designed or something. Or you could wear nothing at all so I can return the favor.” he laughed.

She shook her head. “Never, not even in your dreams, kitten.”

His eyes widened, pencil dropping.

“Oops.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Mari, you fucked up.
> 
> Also, I volunteer as an art teacher because I love art and I'm not terrible at it and these are the few basic lessons I teach my five year olds so I thought Adrien needed to start with them too. If I ever want to do an Adrien painting naked Marinette scene, it would have to be like fast forward to the future because art isn't really learned like that.
> 
> If you think this reveal was abrupt, good, because the reveal is going to inevitably be really fucking awkward or really inconvenient and I thought it would be realistic this way. Also yay for reveal!
> 
> And can we like pretend that Chat and Ladybug can communicate the way I set it up because I have no idea if that's a thing or not it probably isn't but we'll just pretend. 
> 
> After I finish this fic I might end up doing a spin-off where I just endlessly post chapters until I get bored and never finish but I just really want to finish this fic I think it deserves a good ending.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alya and Nino are grossed out and Marinette smashes Adrien into the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh lord I got this out as fast as I could. It's short but I'm pretty satisfied with it. We're not at the end yet, faithful readers.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Oops.” Marinette whispered. It was the most beautiful ‘oops’ Adrien had ever heard in his entire life.

“That didn’t last long.” he let out a breathy laugh, wanting to ease the harsh awkwardness that settled over them.

“Goddammit.” she pressed her face into her hands. “That wasn’t fun I was supposed to _tease you_ for like _two days_ I barely lasted _two hours._ ”

He laughed, scooting his chair over so he could reach over and draw her hands from her face. Her bright blue eyes glanced up at him and he found himself lost in the color. “It was fun, my lady. It was purr-fect.” 

“I can’t believe I have to hear those puns even more often now.” she groaned. 

“What gave me away so fast?” he pressed her hands to his face, trailing little kisses along her wrist. 

She blushed furiously. “What gave me away? I was _careful_. Did you stalk me?” Her tone was teasing and playful. 

“For your information, your kwami was in my bag after one of our painting sessions but she flew away before I could ask any questions. But I was kinda suspicious because Plagg was being really weird so I asked you what your kwami was like and the physical description fit so,” he shrugged. 

“It was your bruise. I noticed it earlier and I thought it could be a coincidence but your story was _awful_ so I figured it was fake.” She shook her head as he absently brought her hand away from his face so he could kiss her fingertips. 

“Wow, not as romantic as I imagined it would be.” he murmured into her palm. 

“W-well what _were_ you imagining?” her stuttering returned but it wasn’t nervousness. He could tell by the way her azure eyes watched his lips trail over her fingers. 

He blushed, burying his face in her hand. “Um I’m not sure. Something like grabbing you and just telling you I’m Adrien and then you’d tell me you’re Marinette and then we could ride off into the sunset. Sometimes it included long make out sessions. Sometimes I’d find out by running into you on the streets and immediately knowing you were Ladybug and then we’d make out. But that was before I knew you were, well, _you._ ” 

She laughed, light and airy, but it turned into bright giggling that made his heart rise to his throat. 

“Didn’t think what I said was _that_ funny.” he mumbled. 

“No! No, it’s not that,” she managed to say between bursts of giggles. “It’s just that oh my god this is so weird!” 

He paused his trail of kisses, lacing his fingers through hers instead. “What’s weird?” 

“Did you not actually have a chance to think about it? First of all, Adrien and Marinette are fake dating while Chat Noir and Ladybug are real dating, which means… “ she blushed. “We’ll talk about what it means. But also Adrien, Chat Noir, was pining after Ladybug, who is Marinette who was pining after Adrien which means that Ladybug didn’t give Chat a chance because she was too wrapped up in what she was feeling for Adrien which means you played yourself.” she dissolved into another round of giggling fits. 

His jaw dropped to the floor. “You… you like me?” 

She blushed. “Yes, Adrien, I liked you. But then you weren’t really a part of my life anymore so then I realized my feelings for Chat which is really funny because I basically realized my feelings for you but I already had feelings for you.” she rambled. 

He grinned his best Chat Noir grin. “First of all, you had a crush on me which is _so_ embarrassing-” 

“We’re dating.” she deadpanned. 

“-Second, we’re definitely dating now which is amazing and great and perfect.” he winked. “I’ve also seen you naked.” 

“W-well! I’ve seen you naked! I’ve drawn you naked! So I win!” she blushed, letting go of his hand so she could cross her arms over her chest. 

“Well I’m going to draw you naked someday so I will win.” he smiled smugly. 

“I hate you.” 

“You love me. You’ve loved me for _loooong time_.” he sang. 

“I’m breaking up with you.” 

He grinned. “Lies.” 

“Truths.” 

He stood up, bringing her up with him. He held her face in his hands and lifted her chin gently before pressing his lips to hers. 

Ladybug and Chat kisses were fiery, breathless and knee-weakening. Marinette and Adrien kisses were sweet and careful. Lips slid over lips, hands were all over the place. At one point her hands would be rested at his chest while his cupped her jaw. At another, her hands would slide into his hair, tugging gently and coaxing groans that inexplicably slipped from his lips, while his hands held her hips to his. 

Her soft pink lips peppered kisses all over his face. He’d find her lips against his cheek, trailing down his jaw, pressing cute kisses to his nose. _Marinette._

And she was a _tease._ Her tongue would slip across the seam of his lips, coaxing them to part. When they did, her lips left his to kiss other parts of his face. 

“Wow. You’re right, Alya. Disgustingly in love.” It was Nino’s voice that pulled them apart. 

Adrien let Marinette go to wrap his friend in a bear hug. 

“What the fuck, Adrien, I just saw you like on Monday you’re acting like I died or something.” Nino laughed. 

He felt a soft little tap on his shoulder. 

“Let go, Agreste, it’s my turn.” Marinette laughed. 

Adrien let go on Nino before pressing a soft kiss to Marinette’s temple. She brushed him off, hugging Nino. 

“It’s been awhile, Mari, how are you?” Nino grinned. 

She smiled, letting him go. “Never been better.” 

Adrien grinned stupidly. _Ladybug._ “How’d you get up here, Nino?” 

“Walked. It took awhile but Alya was texting me nonstop about how you it was agony third-wheeling with you two so I came to keep her company.” he laughed, letting Marinette go. 

Adrien stepped closer to her, a hand on her lower back. 

“We can hang out together.” Marinette smiled radiantly. “Ultimate Mecha Strike III, anyone?” 

“Ugh, Mari, why is that your only idea for group activities?” Alya groaned theatrically. 

Marinette spun on her heel to grin at her friend. “Because it’s a good game that everyone, but you, loves.” 

“It’s only fun for you because you win every time.” Alya scolded. 

Marinette’s smile widened. “Guilty.” 

“Don’t worry, Alya. I’ll be sure to beat her today.” Adrien laughed. 

Marinette pouted up at him before smirking the most Ladybug smirk he had ever seen. “We’ll see.” 

He kissed her nose. “You’re going down, my lady. But don’t worry,” he purred in a low voice. “I’ll be gentle.” 

“You see what I have to deal with?” Alya looked at Nino, gesturing to the couple. 

Marinette blushed and Adrien grinned. 

“Okay, Ultimate Mecha Strike III; Adrien vs. Alya. The winner will go against whoever wins between me and Marinette. Good?” Nino smiled at them. 

Marinette nodded, endearing determination in her eyes. 

~ 

Marinette smashed Nino. Into the ground. With a yoyo. 

Metaphorically, of course. 

Nino smiled ruefully, not at all expecting to win but put up a decent fight anyway. Marinette patted his back, her win making a smile bloom on her features. A smile that she couldn’t tamp down. 

“This is so typical.” Alya grumbled, always a sore loser. 

Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder. “You did well, Alya! Especially since you haven’t played in awhile.” 

“ _You_ haven’t played in awhile!” 

Marinette smiled as he floundered for an excuse. 

“Okay you two,” Nino passed his controller to Adrien. “Start up, choose your characters and what not. I’m gonna go pop popcorn because I’m pretty sure this is going to be very interesting.” 

Adrien settled himself on the couch, staring up at Marinette expectantly. 

She cocked an eyebrow. 

“Come sit.” he patted his lap. 

She could feel her face grow hot, her suspicions only confirmed at Adrien’s smug grin. “You shameless pile.” she grumbled, settling herself between his outstretched legs. 

She could feel his grin as he rested his chin on her shoulder. 

He, of course, chose the cat-like robot, its metal ears an obvious nod to his secret identity. _What an idiot._ She rolled her eyes, choosing her own favorite character, the red spotted robot. 

“Okay, we’re ready!” Alya flopped onto the couch, Nino not far behind, carrying a big bowl of popcorn. Marinette raised an eyebrow, she was sure her pantry didn’t have popcorn. 

Adrien pressed start without warning her. 

“Adrien, you _cheater._ ” she spat the blasphemous word. 

He grinned, getting a few hits on her. 

“I hate you.” she grumbled, rapidly hitting away at her controller. She managed to land a few hits but her health was far too low. 

She grinned but blushed, keeping her eyes on the screen but her mouth was occupied elsewhere. Trying to reach his face would distract her game so she found herself kissing along the groove of his collarbone and up his throat. 

It worked, too, his fingers hesitated on his controller, his attacks less frequent. She ruthlessly attacked, not letting up at all. He didn’t notice a single thing. He just kept up his delayed defense. 

She landed one last hit, a critical one. Her lips left his skin as she jumped out of his lap, tossing the controller onto her couch and dancing around. Alya screamed and Nino scooted over to Adrien to console the loser. 

“You _lost,_ kitten.” she stuck her tongue out at him. 

But there was no pain in his eyes. A playful smirk turned his sweet expression into something borderline _sinful._ “I’m pretty sure I won.” 

She blushed, her happy dance stopping. 

An awkwardness settled over the four, the awkwardness mostly radiating from Alya and Nino who were watching the exchange. 

Marinette brushed them away as she stepped closer to Adrien, who had stood up. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, the light blue long-sleeved one that she absolutely fell in love with, and kissed him briefly. 

It was meant to be brief. She didn’t expect his to react fast enough but his arms came around her waist before sliding to grip her hips. His lips teased hers in the most Chat Noir way possible. 

“Gross.” Nino’s voice had them springing apart. 

“Gross.” Alya agreed. “Wait until you see what Mari drew-” 

“UM! How about a movie?” Marinette cut in quickly. 

Alya smirked at her as Adrien’s phone began buzzing wildly. 

“I have to take this.” he sighed, pressing a quick kiss to Marinette’s temple before rushing away. 

Marinette, Nino, and Alya spoke for a while until he returned, his smile gone and replaced with dread that made her heart ache. 

“Adrien?” she whispered, taking his hand. 

He lifted his phone wordlessly, an online newsletter open. 

The headline? _Agreste Exposed: Adrien Agreste, the son of the fashion mogul, Gabriel, and revered model, reveals his hidden wonders at a local university._

_~_

Adrien’s phone was going off wildly so he threw it away, finding refuge in Marinette’s arms. 

He was fucked. His father would find out in _seconds._ And when that happened, oh, his life would be ruined. His life would be in shambles. He would have to live on the streets like a homeless person. Or worse, his father would force him to move in with him. 

Marinette whispered reassurances into his ear that he couldn’t hear. He could only feel her gentle breath as her breathy words slipped from her lips. 

Alya and Nino were reading through the article, wide-eyed. He really didn’t feel like explaining to his friends what happened. He especially didn’t want to tell Alya that he and Marinette were fake dating until a couple hours ago when they started real dating… kinda. 

He groaned into Marinette’s shoulder, trying to keep tears that burned in his eyes from falling. “Can we go to your room?” he murmured, trying to keep his miserable tone at bay. 

She nodded, leading him away from the living room and into her room. He watched her shut the door behind her before finding himself buried in her embrace. 

He let his tears fall, only regretting ruining her shirt. “Am I overreacting?” he mumbled into the warm cloth of her shirt. 

“No.” her voice was steel. “I’m gonna find whoever released the information and murder them with my goddamn yoyo.” 

“Marinette, he’s going to send me away or something. He’s either just going to ruin my career or take control of it. Both are horrible option.” he said dully. 

She led him to her bed. She sat up, and he placed his head in her lap, his face in her thigh. She scratched the place behind where his Chat ears resided, the motion still enjoyable even as Adrien. “I’ll fix it. I don’t know how, but I will.” she said. 

They were silent for a long, long time. He took refuge in that silence. If he could just squeeze his eyes shut and let her envelop him, he could almost pretend it wasn’t happening. 

“It says rumors!” Alya banged on the door. 

Adrien lifted his head from Marinette’s lap, brushing away his tears hastily as Marinette opened the door. “What?” 

“The article says that it’s just rumors. Which means they have no actual proof of it. No pictures, no witnesses. If you can prove you were nowhere near the class, they’ll get rid of the article, or write up a new one saying they were wrong.” Alya stated firmly. “It says rumors.” 

Marinette turned to him. “It says rumors.” she repeated softly. 

"It says rumors.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops my hand slipped.
> 
> I don't know, rushed ending, some tears, nice save from Alya the ever supportive best friend. It's an okay chapter by my books. Again, sorry for any grammatical errors or typos, like I mentioned, I don't proofread or edit.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, BullySquadess, it is not your smut scene but it will come soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised BullySquadess a smut scene in exchange for all the shit she's making my son go through to end so look for that soon. Maybe in the next few chapters ;))))
> 
> Sorry for the really short chapters lately, I'm anticipating that the smut scene is gonna be like 5k words so you can suffer through a few shorter chapters until then.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Père,” Adrien sighed into his phone.

“What is the meaning of this, Adrien?” Gabriel Agreste’s cool voice sent shudders down Adrien’s spine.

“I… it’s not… I mean-” Adrien was floundering, his hand clenched around Marinette’s.

“Fix this. Or I will. I will not have my name slandered because of you.” he cut the line, leaving Adrien cold and shaking.

He tossed his phone as far away from him as he could, burying his face in Marinette’s shoulder. She scratched behind his ears absently like she did on their lazy patrols. “Do you want to head out for a while?” she whispered.

“Later.” he mumbled.

She nodded. “Alya, what are we supposed to do?”

Alya and Nino, who were standing by as Adrien spoke to his father, now sat on either side of the couple in Marinette’s small apartment. It was crowded with four people but in a good way. The apartment was already very full of life with just Marinette, adding Adrien, Alya, and Nino only made it better.

“I need the full story, first.” Alya said firmly. Adrien suspected it was more for her own benefit than for theirs.

He sighed. “I took a job at Marinette’s art school as a nude model in her class. I didn’t know it was her class, she was just there. That’s where we bumped into each other again, not at the coffee shop. I asked Marinette not to tell you because I didn’t really want word getting around.” he laughed bitterly. “Didn’t really help much apparently.”

Marinette’s thumb skimmed over his fingers. “In that class, everyone only got to finishing sketches so he had to come in again the next day. But the next day, I caught a girl trying to take a picture so I um alerted the teacher-”

“She attacked the girl.” Adrien translated.

“-and everyone had to give up their phones so administration could make sure that no one else got anything. Then Adrien decided to quit because he thought the risk was too much and he’d still get paid.”

“But if everyone only finished their sketches, then why is the painting of Adrien finished in your book?” Alya raised an eyebrow. “And do you think it was the girl who spilled?”

Marinette’s blush matched his own. “Is that really necessary for you to know? And I don’t know, anyone could have spilled for the right amount of money.”

Alya nodded, her solemn expression cracking to reveal her grin. “Yes, I need to know about the painting.”

“I offered to help finish it so now it’s done.” Adrien smiled.

“So you aren’t actually dating?” Alya squinted.

“When we told you we were dating, we weren’t actually dating.” _At least Marinette and Adrien weren’t. Ladybug and Chat on the other hand…_ “But now we are.”

“Mhm, I see. So, as a journalist, I’m pretty sure a lot, if not every, newspaper and gossip magazine will probably hop onto this story. Everyone mostly reports on Ladybug and Chat Noir but with little to no akuma attacks in the storm, they need something to report on, even without evidence.”

Adrien nodded.

“But all we have to do is prove that Adrien wasn’t in the class right? And if everyone doesn’t have evidence, it’ll be easy, right?” Marinette laced her fingers in his and squeezed.

“It should be, as long as the other fifteen students in your class don’t go around showing people their drawings.”

“If they get paid then they probably will. But not all of them can look exactly like Adrien. There’s tons of green-eyed blond-haired boys in Paris with perfect bone structure!”

Adrien kissed her cheek.

“I don’t know, Mari. But we have to do damage control. I could get in touch with a few journalists to get you interviews but you need a story.”

“Like what kind of story? Like something he was doing instead?”

“I would probably be sleeping.” he offered.

“That’s actually really believable.” Nino agreed.

“Did any of your neighbors or anything see you leaving the house?” Alya rolled her eyes.

He hesitated. “I’m not sure. I don’t think so.”

“Mari, do you think your school would release any information if they were asked to?” Alya asked.

“If they did, they would be sued. They aren’t allowed to, they aren’t even allowed to release the model’s name in class unless the model wants them to, which Adrien obviously didn’t.” Her eyes were steely and hard and completely _Ladybug._

“Okay so if the model’s name wasn’t released then they can’t be sure that it’s you, no matter how much you look like them, maybe. No one has real proof. Even if anyone comes forward saying they saw you in class, they don’t have any pictures or anything. AND!” Alya interjected. “Marinette can testify, saying that you were still in bed when she left for class.”

“How would Marinette know if… oh.” Adrien laughed.

“I don’t think that’ll actually be necessary but sure.” she smiled.

“Cool, Nino and I will work on getting those interviews. You guys can… try not to jump each other.” Alya winked.

Marinette blushed.

“No promises.”

~

 

Ladybug rubbed Chat’s ears absently as they looked out over the snow covered city. His head was rested in her lap, his eyes turned to the city.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered.

“Seems like Alya thinks it’ll be okay. But I’m not sure. Even if we do damage control, I feel like my father won’t trust me to do things on my own anymore.” he sighed.

“What can he do? You’re an adult now.” she moved her hand over his blond waves to scratch behind his cat ears.

“He can blacklist my name, any modelling jobs I apply for, I’ll get rejected. They’ll all listen to him too.” he sounded resigned, like his fate had already been laid out for him and all he has to do now is let it carry him away.

“Do you like modelling?”

He paused. “I, I don’t know. It’s just something I’ve always done, something that’s just part of me. I don’t hate it but I don’t think I would choose it in another life where I didn’t grow up with it.”

“Mmm. What would you choose, then?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’d teach physics at university.”

They were quiet for a few moments. A peaceful silence that could only be achieved on a Parisian rooftop view of the city blanketed in snow. She wished she could live in that silence and forget everything that had happened and could happen. Just Ladybug and Chat Noir, uncomplicatedly in love in the most romantic city in the world.

Then she felt it, the quiet rumbling that emitted from the boy sprawled over her legs. Her fingers paused their ministrations, his rumbling pausing too.

“Sorry.” he mumbled.

She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “Did you- _purr_?”

He nodded. His face was away from her but she had a perfect view of his red ears.  
“Do it again.” she demanded.

He had purred in her presence before. Every time, she loved it. She found it extremely endearing.

Her fingers rubbed at his ears again, scratching along the base. It didn’t take long for the purring to begin again. It didn’t stop for a while and she loved every second of it.

He sat up, staring at her with large green eyes. “Don’t, just don’t freak out when I say it okay? I know it’s early but it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. It’s felt like forever so just forgive me.”

Fear struck her. “Are you okay?”

He took her face in his gloved hands and touched his forehead to hers. “I love you. _All_ of you. And whatever happens, I’ll get through it. With you.”

She was kissing him even before she registered what he had said. “I love you.” she whispered in the small space between their lips.

He grinned, kissing her again. He pulled away, his hands rested at her hips. “Hey, you haven’t met Plagg yet.”

“You wanna do it here?”

“There’s less people here than there are at home.”

 _Home._ He referred to her apartment as home. Warmth spread through her chest. “Yeah okay.”

She released her transformation. Her suit disappeared and there was a moment where they was no clothing between his hand and her skin until her shirt materialized. He let his transformation go too, a little black kwami appearing in his palm.

“Adrien!” she squealed.

“What, what happened?” his green eyes were wide with panic.

She plucked the kwami from his hands and held it gently in hers, Tikki resting on her shoulder. “He’s so _cute_!”

“What?” Adrien stared at her.

“What?” Tikki asked, her energy still pretty full as no magic was needed.

“Look at him! He has little ears and a tail, oh my... “ she gushed.

“See, Adrien? _Someone_ appreciates me.” Plagg stuck his tongue out at the boy before turning back to her. “Nice to meet you, Marionette. I’m Plagg.”

“It’s Marinette and it’s very nice to meet you too, Plagg.” she smiled, rubbing the kwami’s head with her index finger. “Do you like cookies too?”

“ _Cookies_?!” he spat. “I’m a cheese kwami. Cookies are for bugs.”

Realization struck her. “That’s why you asked for cheese slices.” she grinned up at Adrien.

He blushed and nodded. “Oh, Tikki! I should apologize for uh grabbing you earlier. I didn’t know you were in the bag and… “

Tikki nodded, whizzing over to the boy. “Forgiven. It’s nice to finally meet you, Adrien. I know pretty much everything about you so you don’t have to introduce yourself.”

He laughed.

Marinette watched as Tikki whispered quietly in Adrien’s ear, making him chuckle. “Did she really?” he smirked at her.

She pointed an accusing finger at her kwami. “What did you tell him?”

Tikki smiled innocently. “Nothing.”

“Do you still have all the pictures, Marinette? I didn’t catch them in your apartment but maybe I need to be a little more observant.” he chuckled.

“Adrien!” Tikki pouted.

“You told him about the pictures?!” Blush spread across her face.

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Marinette, I don’t like this one, you should dump him and date someone else. Like Nathanael, he was a nice boy.”

Plagg snickered as Adrien pouted. “As long as we’re telling secrets…” He floated up to Marinette’s ear.

“Don’t you dare. I will take away your camembert fix. Just watch me.” Adrien warned.

“I’ll give you all the cheese you want, Plagg.” Marinette countered.

Plagg laughed. “It’s okay, I have to stick with my boy here. But I’ll make sure you know everything.”

“Why do all kwamis hate me?” he looked to the sky as if the answer would be written in the clouds.

Marinette laughed, drawing him into a kiss.

“Let’s go home.” he laughed.

“You go on. I just have to do something first.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Just go, I promise I’ll be right behind you.”

He nodded.

She waited twenty seconds after she could no longer see his blond head adorned with cat ears leaping away.

She transformed, running toward a familiar neighborhood.

She didn’t worry too much about whatever window she landed in. Hopefully she’d get lucky and it would be the right one. If it wasn’t well, no one would say a thing.

Shrugged, she swung her yoyo, latching onto the roof of the mansion before swinging in through a random window.

The glass crashed around her but Tikki’s magic kept the shards from harming her. The man on the other side, however, did get a little scratched up.

“Ladybug,” his cool voice murmured. “Am I in danger? Is there an akuma after me?”

“You are in danger. But not from an akuma, Monsieur Agreste.” she walked in, pacing the room.

“Who am I in danger from, in that case?”

“Me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“I saw your son in the article. He’s a friend of mine and I’m here to make sure you don’t hurt him.”

“Why would I hurt him?”

“If he doesn’t fix the situation, what will you do?”

Gabriel Agreste stood from his desk chair, long legs striding to her. He towered over her as much as Adrien did but the power she emitted made her feel stronger. “I don’t see why you are concerning yourself with such trivial matters. Don’t you have a butterfly to chase or something?”

Anger sparked like a fire in her. “Fine, don’t tell me. But if I find out that you aren’t supporting him in these times, if you aren’t doing everything in your power to help him, then you will no longer exist to make another fashion line again. Do you hear me?”

For the first time in her life, she saw real fear spark in the fashion mogul’s eyes. “Yes, Miss Ladybug.”

~

 

Relief uncoiled like a snake in Adrien’s chest when Marinette returned, pink cheeked from the cold.

“Where did you go? I was worried.” he peppered kisses all over her face as she took her jacket off and hung it up in the little coat closet by the door.

“Just had to check on something really quick.” she smiled.

He kissed her.

“God, get a room, you two. Good news, you have like five interviews tomorrow. Marinette, you might have to go on air, is that okay?” Alya patted her friend’s shoulder.

Adrien grinned. Marinette had been on air as Ladybug countless time.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Adrien hugged Alya. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”

She laughed. “Of course. I am a little pissed that you lied to me but what are friends for?”

Marinette smiled at him, Nino standing by her wearing a sincere grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the angst last chapter, let me just shove some fluff down your throat to make up for it.
> 
> Also aggressive!Ladybug is my favorite thing ever. Or should I say...  
> Agrestive ;))
> 
> You're not getting anymore puns out of me, I'm terrible at them.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried not to post this honestly. I just posted the other day. I am too generous. So after this it will be at least a WEEK until I update. Suffer.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry but this isn't my fault, I swear.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Monsieur Agreste, what happened on Monday?” The interviewer asked with a tilt of their head.

Adrien had woken up with Marinette sprawled across his body. His morning continued to be amazing as he rolled out of bed and had breakfast with his best friends. A breakfast his girlfriend had made for them.

It went downhill from there.

He was now seated in front of a camera being recorded live. The interviewer was nice enough before the show had begun but had instantly switched into a ruthless journalist the moment the camera turned on.

“I honestly have no idea. I was asleep when the class took place so there’s no way I could have even been there, let alone naked.” he gave his best model smile, trying to sweep away his nerves.

“Then where could these accusations come from?”

“I can’t be sure. Maybe the model was someone who looked like me. Maybe someone decided to play a practical joke.” he shrugged.

“Do you have any proof that you were asleep during the time this took place?”

“My girlfriend can tell you. She was in that very class.” he answered easily. Alya had drilled him over breakfast. Her questions were harsh and hard hitting, questions he couldn’t get around. Compared to this morning’s trainwreck, this was cake.

“Is she here with you?”

“Yes.”

“Would she be comfortable with answering a few questions?”

He looked to Marinette, more for show than anything else. She was already prepped for questions as well. She nodded. He waved her over.

She stepped onto the elevated ground, shaking the interviewer’s hand.

“And what is your name?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. H-How do you do?” she smiled kindly as she stammered past her words. The urge to kiss her increased tenfold.

“I’m great, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. Please, have a seat.” they gestured to the couch that Adrien was also perched on.

She sat right by him, immediately lacing her fingers in his. “Thank you.”

“How long have you two been dating?”

“Since the last year of high school.”

They had also created a new story to fit with their little white lie.

“Really? That’s a very long time. Do you mind sharing your story? Either of you can answer.”

“Well I liked him the moment I met him.” Marinette blushed and he found himself beaming. He knew this, of course, but hearing her say it so explicitly made his heart flutter. “He, of course, as a model, had no real time to even notice me. Then his best friend Nino struck up a friendship with my best friend Alya and we ended up hanging out together a lot.”

He nodded along with the story. “Then I realized that I was absolutely in love with her and here we are.”

She squeezed his hand.

“That’s very sweet. So, mademoiselle, Monsieur Agreste was asleep when you left for class?”

“Yes, I left really late as well so the model was already in class by the time I was there.” she nodded.

“Mhm so can you please describe the model who was present to us?”

“I-I’m not sure if I’m allowed. There’s a confidentiality contract that everyone has to follow. Whoever tipped you off about Adrien will get in big trouble when they’re found.”

“Oh,” they faltered. “Do you have your sketchbook with you?”

“Stop harassing my son and his girlfriend this instant.” An all too familiar voice drawled.

Adrien looked toward the figure seeing none other than his own father, arms crossed over his chest and his token stern expression plastered on his features. Surprise, panic, and something that he could almost identify as love burst in his chest as his father strode onto the elevated ground and pointed at the camera.

“Turn that off this instant or I will make sure this show never runs again.” He glared.

Marinette’s hand squeezed his in the silence that followed.

“Turn it off.” The director or whoever stated flatly. “Monsieur Agreste, what is the meaning of this?”

“Don’t use that condescending tone with me. My son said he wasn’t there, why are you still questioning him?! You should have stopped immediately as soon as he said he didn’t do it.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped.

“W-well, he could have been lying. As a journalist-”

“Agreste men don’t lie. You will release an article or a news broadcast or whatever this petty establishment does stating that it has been proven that this situation is all a misunderstanding. Is that clear?”

“Y-yes, Monsieur.”

In all that had happened, Gabriel Agreste had yet to turn his cool eyes on his son. He did now, regarding Adrien indifferently. “Adrien, let’s leave.”

Adrien shut his jaw with a click, letting Marinette lead him away from the set, barely aware of Alya and Nino trailing quietly, twin expressions of awe painted on their faces.

The air outside the building was a relief as Adrien’s panic settled in. _What the fuck was that?_

Apparently, in his shock, he had voiced his exclamation out loud as his father turned to him. “Don’t say I never support you, now.”

“B-but why- what happened- just yesterday _morning_ you were-” he grasped for any sentence he could form coherently.

“Let’s just say your friend Ladybug cares for you very much. In fact, she herself made an appearance in our home and made sure I would be there for you in this time. I realized that, yes, I should be there for you. You are my son and accusing you of such things isn’t… what fathers do.” For the first time in his life, Adrien heard his own father’s words falter. For what seemed like the first time, his father apologized for his actions.

Because of Ladybug.

He had to resist the urge to turn and stare at her.

“Did you schedule anymore interviews to clean up this mess?” His cool, drawling voice made a reappearance.

Adrien nodded wordlessly.

“I’ll take care of them. And Adrien.” His father leaned close. “I don’t want to have to fix your mistakes again.”

~

Gabriel had left leaving, Marinette, Adrien, Nino, and Alya all left in a stunned silence.

Marinette broke first as she strode over, brushing her fingers against Adrien’s. He recoiled and hurt flashed in her chest. _He’s just recovering, give him time, Marinette._

“Alya, Nino, can I talk to Marinette in private?” He mumbled under his breath, his eyes turned away from her.

They nodded, turning on their heels and heading out. She could hear their quiet whispers as they left.

“Marinette, _what were you thinking?_ ”

His forceful tone made her start. “Excuse me?”

“What the hell were you thinking going to my father like that?!” His hands came around her shoulders, squeezing them tightly. His eyes were green fire, an expression that she had only seen on Chat and never turned on her. “What did you say?! When did you go?!”

“I went yesterday. Nothing really happened, I just asked him to help you out and-and he did.” She kept her voice cool and confident to hide the panic that was coursing through her veins.

“He wouldn’t do it if you just asked. What did you say to him.” He let go of her and turned away, his hands in his hair.

“Adrien I-”

“What did you say.”

Marinette huffed, squaring her shoulders. “I told him that if he didn’t support you then he wouldn’t live to make another fashion line.”

He turned to her again, his eyes squeezed shut. “I can’t believe you.”

“Why are you so upset?! I was trying to _help you_.” She couldn’t help the hurt that slipped into her voice.

“I’m upset because he could have hurt you, Marinette!” His eyes snapped open.

“I think you’re forgetting who I am.” She said flatly.

“YES YOU’RE LADYBUG THE ALL POWERFUL AMAZING SUPERHERO WHO PROTECTS THE ENTIRE CITY OF PARIS BUT YOU’RE ALSO MARINETTE AND I’M ADRIEN AND CHAT AND I WORRY ABOUT YOU ALL THE GODDAMN TIME!” His breaths came out in angry puffs of air now. “You don’t know, you don’t know what it was like to live with him when she left.” His voice dropped from its forceful yelling to a quiet mumble.

She said nothing, tears dripping down her face.

“He was really broken and he took it out on me. I was really young and I didn’t understand. I thought just letting him do it would make him feel better and it didn’t really matter what pain I felt, as long as he got better. But he never did and now he’s this shell of a person stuck in the body of a man who used to love me, who used to love his family.” He whispered, angry tears leaking from his green eyes.

She shoved down the sob that was stuck like a lump in her throat.

“He could have hurt you like he hurt me and that makes me want to kill him.”

“Nothing happened.” She whispered.

“You should have told me.”

“You wouldn’t have let me go.”

“For a good reason.”

“If you didn’t let me go then you would have to suffer through these goddamn interviews, lying your way through them just to keep your life intact.” She wondered vaguely, if he could hear the tears in her voice like she could hear in his.

“Who cares, Marinette? You could have gotten _hurt_. Who cares about a career that was pushed on me?”

“Nothing _happened._ ” She urged.

He stepped closer, his hands drawing her to him by her waist. “But you should have told me.” He whispered.

“I still don’t understand why it bothers you.” She murmured, reaching out and brushing away the tears that collected on his lashes with her fingertips.

“I’m scared for you.”

She pressed her face into his chest, able to feel the rapid thump of his heart against her cheek. “You don’t have to be.”

“But I _am_. I know I don’t have to be but you’re the love of my life and I have to keep you safe.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” She mumbled.

“Just tell me, next time, when you’re planning on threatening members of my family. Or threatening anyone. Or when you’re going to be in danger in general.” He whispered into her hair.

“I didn’t think I would be in danger.” 

His rapid heartbeat slowed to a gentle thump. “I love you.” He whispered.

“You’re frustrating.” She laughed through her tears.

“You love me.” The teasing lilt in his voice made her chest’s aching end and her tears stop.

“That I do.” She whispered. A few moments passed in which she wasn’t sure who was holding who. “You do realize you just yelled that I’m Ladybug and you’re Chat outside of a news broadcast station, right?”

“People will just think it’s a metaphor or something if they heard. Like you’re the Ladybug to my Chat.” He mumbled.

“Sure.”

~

Adrien found himself glancing at Marinette often as they rode their cab back to her home. Alya, Nino, Adrien, and Marinette had all squished together in the back, despite the empty seat by the cab driver.

He had a million things he wanted to say. He mostly really wanted to apologize for blowing up at her. He should have the moment his unexpected outburst ended but he was too wrapped up in his thoughts, his worry.

She was sitting solemnly on the other side of the cab, staring out the window with those large blue eyes of hers.

“Ooh! Look at this!” Alya held out her phone so everyone could see.

_Agreste Scandal: It Didn’t Really Happen_ the article header read.

“Aye, nice!” Nino patted Adrien on the back.

Marinette gave him a small smile, a smile he couldn’t read before turning her attention back to the city that rushed past them.

“You guys are the best.” He smiled weakly.

The rest of the ride was silent as Adrien pretended not to notice the concerned glances Alya and Nino shot them.

~

Marinette felt Adrien grab her hand just as she was walking into her apartment after Nino and Alya.

“Hey, are we okay?” He whispered quietly.

She smiled, pressing a kiss to his nose. “Yes, we’re okay. We’re Ladybug and Chat Noir, remember? Metaphorically, of course.”

He grinned that token Chat grin that she had at first found insufferable but now lived for the sight. “Of course. I’m sorry for exploding like that. It’s just that-”

“Say no more. I get it. I would react the same way, no worries.”

He kissed her, his fingers slipping into her hair. She sighed, feeling that little tense ball in the pit of her stomach uncoil.

“Lovebirds, get in here.” Nino laughed, calling them into the apartment.

Her hand sought his as he pulled away from her. His smile, so different from the expression of pain and panic that had marred his features earlier, lit her up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know this was like a half filler half not. After Jackady last Sunday I just needed supportive Papa Agreste and you know Adrien gets to explode sometimes too so why not. Fluff will begin again next chapter hopefully.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you're welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I said a week but I wouldn't be able to finish this all week so I decided to just get it done over the weekend but I'm bad at sitting on chapters so here you go. But no more. Also this is mostly filler bc I felt like writing some fluff so I might end up going past my 15 chapters limit with this story. We'll see.
> 
> Enjoy!

Marinette was sitting sullenly by the windowsill in her living room, sketching on her pad. A new sketchbook, Adrien couldn’t help but note, not the one she’d drawn him in.

Alya and Nino cast her sidelong glances before staring at him in a way that was obviously very pointed. _Go talk to her what’s happening do something._

But Adrien didn’t know what was wrong. Not for the first time, he wished he could listen in on her thoughts.

Some part of him, the part that appreciated beauty and aesthetics, didn’t want to disrupt her. The snow had stopped falling but was casting a glow over her face that sharpened her features. Her blue eyes were icy, her fingers were long and delicate as they gripped her pencil.

He sighed from where he sat on the couch, running his fingers through his hair before striding over.

She looked up at him, her ghost of a smile making his heart stutter. She cocked an eyebrow at him wordlessly.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he dropped his voice to just a whisper of breath and said, “ _Agreste.”_

She caught him, he was sure as rose color dusted her cheekbones. He pulled a Cheshire grin.

“I am taking you on a real first date.” He flicked her nose affectionately.

Her lips parted. “A first date?”

He nodded. “I have yet to take you out on a real date, the snow we can walk in, I’ll make reservations we’ll celebrate getting out of this mess. Just us.”

She stared up at him in that way that she did. This was an entirely new side of Marinette.

_I did this._

“Yeah okay.” She nodded before ducking her head and continuing her sketching.

“You wanna teach me another lesson to pass the time?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her but she wasn’t looking. He sighed, mentally urging her to look at him, smile in that way that made his heart rise to his throat.

“Yeah but later.”

He exhaled loudly, dropped to his knees so he was eyelevel with her. “Marinette.”

She looked at him.

“What’s happening right now?” He murmured.

“Nothing. Everything’s fine.” She smiled but he couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not. Oh no, he definitely did not ever want to see this side of Marinette again.

“Are you sure?” He looked around, thankful that Alya and Nino had cleared the area. “Marinette I’m really really sorry about blowing up earlier I just really care about you and-”

Her cool fingers held his face carefully and she stared into his eyes like she could see his soul. “I get it.”

“Then why are you-”

She squeezed her eyes shut, touching her forehead to his. “I feel guilty.” She whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” He yelled at her and she was apologizing to him? God, he felt like an asshole.

“I shouldn’t have gone, I know you can handle it I was just scared.”

“Of what?”

“When we were talking on the roof your tone was just really I don’t know desperate I guess. Like when you said you’d be a physics professor in another life, you sounded like that life was too far away and unachievable and like modelling was the only thing you have. And I just couldn’t sit there and watch your career fall apart and I couldn’t do anything about it so I got the one person who could. I thought you’d be happy but you weren’t and I don’t-”

He kissed her, tasting the salt of the tears that had been collecting in her lashes. “I love you, Marinette. I love you I love you I love you. It hasn’t changed in years and years and years and it never will no matter what you do. I literally couldn’t care less about my modelling career or any career I have as long as I have you. You didn’t do anything wrong. I was just scared.”

“I’m sorry.” Her tears dripped onto her sketchbook, blurring the lines she created.

“I’m sorry.” He held her against him and he could feel her heart thrumming beneath her skin.

“Okay. Ready for another lesson?” She smiled and his heart rose to his throat.

“My Lady, you can teach me a lesson any time you want.” He poured suggestiveness into his tone.

She shoved him gently, laughing. “I’ll kick your ass, Adrien Agreste,” her voice dropped to just a breath of a whisper. “ _Dupain-Cheng.”_

 

Adrien Agreste-Dupain-Cheng. He would have laughed if the name didn’t fit so perfectly.

~

Marinette’s heart fluttered wildly as Adrien drew her into his lap as he sat in the rolling desk chair and peered over her shoulder at the paper she’d ripped out of her book.

“So,” she was saying. “You have to practice everyday if you really want to improve. So you practice drawing now and then I’ll teach you about shading when you’re done.”

“Mm what should I draw?” He nuzzled her neck in a very cat-like manner, his words hot breaths against her skin.

“Uh this mug. Table, background, details and all. It’ll be easier to teach you with real life examples before you go off and use your imaginations. We have to build your toolbox first. Then you can use the tools to create anything you want.” She smiled.

“Oh, my tool can do more than just that.” He whispered.

She scoffed. “Can you draw over my shoulder or do I need a real chair?”

“Hush, I’m _concentrating._ ” He rested his chin on her shoulder and she sighed, watching his fingers grip her pencil.

“Do you play piano?” She asked as she absently toyed with his other hand.

“Yeah, why?”

“You have piano hands.”

She couldn’t see his grin.

Moments passed before he announced he was done.

“Okay so don’t look at the mug, just look at the drawing. So you know that basically, wherever a light source is, is where the color is the lightest, right?”

He nodded, his eyes locked on her.

“So when you’re drawing you have to determine where your light source is to add dimension to your art. Like if you do all flat color then it’s kinda boring. But if you add light and dark shades to make depth then it’s more interesting. And the light source has to be in a believable place. So right now, the light is coming from the window that’s to the left of us.” She pointed at the left side of his drawing. “So this side of the mug will be lighter and this side will be darker. But if you somehow make the center the lightest place and the outer edges of the mug darker then the light is coming from you which doesn’t really make any sense physically.”

“Mmm.” he nodded.

“Also the mug is ceramic so it reflects light really easily. The light fills the room so wherever it catches, it’s reflected. So right now the light is being reflected off the tv that’s pointed right at the mug making this part,” she pointed to the upper edge of the mug that was away from the light source. “Glare a little. Can you tell?”

He nodded, a smile on his lips.

“What?”

“I love you.”

She laughed. “What makes you say that?”

“You’re just cute when you talk about art.”

“I’m always cute.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“That is very true. So what were you saying?” He laughed, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She beamed. “Anyway, different materials catch light in different ways. Like skin glows, glass reflects, cloth absorbs and blends. I don’t know if you’ve noticed. But we can forget about that for now, just work on basic shading now. So these,” she picked up her charcoal pencils. “Are charcoal pencils. The ‘lead’ is thicker and way softer than normal and blends really easily. This is a stump,” she picked up her stump. “It’s basically just paper rolled to a point and you can use it to blend. It’s pretty multipurpose, charcoal, pencil, oil pastel. These two are usually for black and white art.”

“Greyscale.” He chuckled, remembering the akuma.

“Yeah. So I’ll start you off. I have a couple different charcoals, white, black, dark, light, etcetera-”

He snorted.

“I never use the white one ever unless it’s like a blending emergency. I never really need it. So I’m gonna start with the darkest pencil.” She picked it up, her fingers somehow already smudged with the pigment. “So basically I’m just gonna color a line down on the dark side and start smudging it out.”

She did so with quick curved strokes that reached towards the other side of the mug. “I’m using rounded strokes because obviously the cup is rounded.” She smudged with her ring fingers in circular motions, fingers hesitant at his concentrated summery stare. “I don’t always use the stump because sometimes it’s too small to do a lot of surface area. So I use my ring finger. It’s the most gentle finger so no super blending will happen. You try.”

His arm came around her from where it was rested in her lap. He took the pencil in his hand and drew careful strokes. He was slow but she assumed it was because he wanted it all to be perfect.

“I forgot you were left-handed.” She noted.

“Yet another thing you missed that would have linked me to Chat. There aren’t a lot of left-handed people in Paris, Mari.” He teased.

“You didn’t notice plenty of things about me being Ladybug. Like how my hair is literally the same and my eyes and my-”

“Hey, all those things are the same for me too.”

“Your hair is messier when you’re Chat. And the black makes your eyes and hair darker.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Your hair is bluer as Ladybug and the red makes your eyes lighter. But I figured it out before you so haha.” He teased.

“You didn’t figure it out! It was right in front of your eyes! _I_ really figured it out.”

He scoffed. “Please, if I didn’t get injured, you would have never figured it out.”

“What do you think would happen if we never figured each other out?” She asked, watching as his finger softened the harsh charcoal lines.

“I think Ladybug and Chat would have gotten to the point where they’d reveal themselves to each other and live happily ever after. But delayed happily ever after.”

“If you didn’t know I was Ladybug, would you ever date me otherwise?” She looked at him and his green eyes flicked to her.

“I was already falling in love with you, Princess.” He kissed her nose.

“Would you have _cheated_ on _me_ with _myself?!_ ” She gasped and put a hand to her chest, mocking being hurt.

“No? Yes? Let’s not bother with hypotheticals?” He floundered.

She kissed him, her hand rising to his cheek. “You’re right.”

He smiled that Adrien model-smile at her before returning to his work. She giggled to herself, seeing that she had smudged charcoal on his skin.

“Where are Alya and Nino?” She asked, shifting to sit sideways in his lap so she could look at him without straining her neck.

“Your room, probably speculating about what we’re doing in here.” He replied absently.

“What do you think they think we’re doing?” She looked up at him.

His green eyes flicked to her. “Making out probably.” There was something in his tone that she couldn’t name.

“Ew, already? We haven’t even gone on a first date yet.” She shook her head.

He laughed. “Speaking of, let’s put this on pause and I’ll make reservations.”

“You’re okay with going out?” She turned so she was facing him fully, her legs draped on either side of him.

He blushed and she had to hide a grin. “Yeah, why?”

“People might say things or stare or-”

“People already stare, Mari. Because I’m so beautiful.” He winked.

“You know what I mean.”

“Well what would you have us do instead?”

Her heart started pounding. “I can think of a few things.” She adjusted her hips in his lap very deliberately.

“Like?” He breathed, his tone turning from teasing to inquiring.

 _Why am I dating the most oblivious boy to ever exist?_ She rolled her eyes. “Never mind, kitten.”

He kissed her, smiling against her lips. She laughed, fingers sliding into his hair. He pushed away from the table, the chair spinning wildly as it rolled across her hardwood. She grumbled against his lips, praying the wheels didn’t scratch the floor. His lips left hers and she could feel his peppered kisses along her cheekbone, up to her temple, down along her jaw. His lips worked down her throat, coaxing quiet groans from her.

“You both better not be having sex while we’re in the same building as you!” Nino yelled.

Adrien pulled away, her face in his hands. His green eyes were fire flickering across her face. “We need to get them out of this building.”

She laughed as he pouted. “All in good time, Chaton.”

He kissed her again.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled away from him to check.

It was a link from an unknown number.

‘ _That’ll teach you to stay out of my business._ ’ Was the text accompanying it.

Then, ‘ _You know how much I paid to get a degree there?_ ’

‘ _I was working my whole life to get an art degree and finally show everyone that art can be a career. And what did you and your boyfriend do? Got me kicked out.’_

Marinette could hear his sharp intake of breath behind her.

_‘Well good luck trying to get rid of this piece of evidence. Most people have their phones actually backed up.’_

Marinette’s heart hammered wildly as she clicked the link. The little circle that popped up as it loaded did nothing to calm her nerves. Adrien was stiff beneath her. His gasp as the article popped up with the picture was absolutely horrifying.

“Alya!” Marinette cried out for her best friend, knowing that she could fix anything and everything. Broken hearts, sprained ankles, bad grades, and leaked nudes on the internet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah okay I can't just have fluff and nothing else.
> 
> I need you all to know that I am Queen Pantser which means I never ever plan anything I write ever which means plot holes and things just leave me be cx I know like the very basics of what I want to happen but I know it's not gonna turn out that way.
> 
> Also feel free to hit me up on tumblr (reyxa.tumblr.com) if you want to scream or talk ML or anything!


	14. Chapter XIV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which this got really long but idk why
> 
> WARNING: Child Abuse Mention!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being the longest chapter yet? I don't know what happened? I literally got 85% of this chapter out today I don't know what happened.
> 
> Well, enjoy!

“Maybe we can say you have an evil twin that you hide from the world or something!” Alya listed as she paced around the room.

Marinette was squeezing the life out of Adrien’s hand while Adrien laid back on their couch staring up at the ceiling unblinkingly. On his other side was Nino who was patting his best friend’s shoulder reassuringly. None of them were reassured.

“Or uh you were drugged! Or _drunk!_ You were drunk and you made a weird call but you didn’t want to cancel so-”

Alya’s wild ideas were blocked from Marinette’s mind as her thoughts could only focus on Adrien. His green eyes were filled with nothing, something she had never seen before.

“Alya,” he sighed, sitting up. “There’s no use. I’ll just go on air and tell the truth and apologize to my father. Best case scenario: modelling agencies love that I like to get naked and they’ll try to get more clothes off me and that’s it. Worst case: my father blacklists my name and my career dies.” He laughed bitterly.

Alya faltered and it sent a jolt down Marinette’s spine. Alya was always bursting at the seams with confidence, she always knew what to do. But this, this was different. This was unsolvable. “But Adrien, you already said you weren’t there, now you have to explain why you lied too.”

“I will. It was my mistake I shouldn’t have taken the job.”

“It wasn’t your mistake.” Marinette said quietly, the first words she had murmured since she had called Alya and Nino in to help. “It was hers and the school’s and everyone’s but yours.”

He exhaled loudly before pressing his face into shirt. “Alya, thank you for everything but can you just get me an interview or interview me yourself or something so we can get over with this?”

“I’ll put it on the Ladyblog.” Alya smiled.

“I thought that was only for Ladybug and Chat Noir?” Marinette raised an eyebrow.

“It is.” She stated.

Marinette shoved aside her paranoia for now. She was sure Alya hadn’t caught on. How could she?

“Anyway, we can do it when everyone’s feeling more level-headed, Marinette, Adrien-”

Marinette’s phone’s rapid buzzing cut Alya off. She checked her phone, finding akuma attack notifications blowing up her phone. “Adrien.” She whispered. “Are you up for getting some fresh air or I can handle it on my own if you’re-”

“I’m coming.” He stated flatly, already leaving the couch. Cold air brushed her arm where his warm skin had been. He held out a hand for her, a weak smile lighting his features.

She took it and held on as she stood by him. “Alya, we’re-”

“Go.” she waved them away with a smile.

Marinette smiled at her gratefully before heading out the door. “Are you sure you’re up for it? I really don’t mind-” he cut her off as she shut the door behind them.

“I am _never_ letting you do this alone.” He stared into her eyes and she had to swallow a few times to get rid of the lump in her throat. _I’ve let you do it alone._

But Ladybug always showed up in the end so Marinette shoved those thoughts from her mind. Instead, she kissed him.

He sighed like a ball of stress had just released in his chest. His hands came up, his fingers toying with her hair that was now pulled up in a messy, hastily done bun. She stepped back until her back was against the cool wall. He stepped forward, his hands against the wall.

“Cover me.” She whispered to him before letting Tikki transform her.

With his body as her cover, she transformed into Ladybug. “I’ll hold them off until you transform somewhere.” She left before he could say another word.

~

An akuma attack was just what Adrien needed. Whatever pent up emotion was rushing through his veins could be let out on something. Unfortunately, Plagg decided to be difficult.

“Plagg, we have to go.” Adrien crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot at the kwami who was hovering over his nose with his cheese.

“Let me finish!” Plagg insisted.

 _“Plagg for god’s sake Marinette needs me!”_ Adrien said, completely exasperated.

Plagg dropped his cheese and zoomed to hover over Adrien’s ring. “Say the words.”

“What? You just dropped cheese, Plagg. Are you feeling okay?” Adrien took Plagg into his hand, worry shooting down his spine.

“Yes! Yes I’m fine you said Marinette was in trouble so let’s transform! Stop smothering me!” Plagg tapped the ring impatiently.

Adrien, for the first time in the last hour or so, grinned. “You like her.”

“Ew no I don’t!”

“Not like _that._ You just, I dunno, _approve_ of her.” He rubbed the kwami’s head with his index finger affectionately.

“You hardly need my approval. But fine, yes she’s nice leave me alone I’m not heartless! I care about you, don’t I?!”

His grin widened. “You _love_ me.” He sang.

“Shut up.”

Adrien smiled before transforming. He ran to the scene of the akuma attack, finding his lady dodging attacks from a huge statuesque figure. Their skin and hair looked like it was of marble, in their hand they held a stone carver that they were now using to split open the ground between Ladybug’s feet.

Chat launched himself at her, sending them both tumbling to the concrete. The ground where she was standing split completely, a gaping Ladybug-sized hole where she was. 

He turned back to her, big blue eyes staring up at him, her smile was cheeky. “Always a pleasure to see you, My Lady.” He murmured.

“Dumbass.” She kissed his nose before tossing him off her.

The akuma turned, heading in the direction of Marinette’s apartment building. “You two are distractions. I will first get rid of that wench and her boyfriend, then I’ll deal with you.”

A purple outline of a mask appeared as Hawkmoth communicated with the akuma. The akuma argued with him before growling, their hand clenching. Their tone was submitting as they turned back to Ladybug and Chat.

“Change of plans, you give me your miraculouses and then we can get on with our lives.” The akuma snarled.

“Pass.” Ladybug quipped, her yoyo bonking the akuma on their head.

The akuma struck down with the stone carver but his lady was quick. She darted aside, the carver cleaving the earth where she stood.

Chat flipped himself, landing on the stick of the stone carver lightly. He crawled up, gripping the metal hard as the akuma wiggled it out from the clutches of the concrete. He was thrown as the akuma swung the carver back.

“Why are you doing this?!” Ladybug cried out.

“Why? _Why?_ I had dreams that’s why. I was a little girl dreaming of becoming a sculptor, an artist, and doing what she loved when she was older. Those dreams were crushed by Marinette. So I will crush her.” The akuma laughed bitterly before bounding off toward her home.

Chat didn’t have to worry about Marinette, she was fighting alongside him. But Alya and Nino would get stuck in the collateral damage.

“Chat! Run ahead and warn everyone in the building, tell them to evacuate!” She called. “I’ll stay here and distract the akuma!”

“Be safe!” He called, using his stick to vault himself to Marinette’s home.

~

Ladybug ducked behind a tree, untransforming quickly.

“Marinette what are you doing?!” Tikki exclaimed. “Your time hasn’t even run out!”

“I’ll distract the akuma with myself. Everyone in the building will be safe, Chat will get them out. Then I’ll ‘disappear’ and Ladybug can appear and take the akuma down.”

“You’ll get hurt.” Tikki stated flatly.

“I’ll be fine.” She smiled at her kwami who sighed and flew into her bag. “Hey! Akuma! Were you looking for me?”

The akuma turned, their marble eyes turning on her unnervingly. “Marinette.” They hissed.

“Hi!” She wiggled her fingers in a wave. “How are you?”

The stone cleaver the akuma wielded came down on her but she darted aside. The edge clipped her shoulder but only tore the cloth of her shirt. “I’m going to kill you Marinette.”

“What, ruining Adrien’s career wasn’t enough for you?” She could feel a fire sparking in her, a rage that lit her heart on fire.

This person was causing Adrien all of this pain and they had the audacity to feel sorry for themselves? They were the ones who took the picture, they knew the rules yet they did it anyway. It was their stupid mistake and now they were destroying Paris.

The akuma growled, the stone carver heading for her again. She hopped out of the way at the last second. “No.” the akuma said. “Ruining his career isn’t enough. You need to die for what you did.”

“And what did I do?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You got me kicked out.”

“You got yourself kicked out.”

They stabbed at her again. “I wouldn’t have gotten caught!”

“It doesn’t matter. Those are the rules. You broke them.”

“I hate you!” The akuma rapidly stabbed at her, the carver clipping the bared skin of her shoulder. Pain exploded from the wound, her shirt dampening with blood.

“Marinette!” She turned to the familiar, comforting voice, finding Chat barrelling towards them. His green eyes were fiery as they locked on the wound on her shoulder.

He grabbed as he ran past, his hands around her waist. He deposited her atop a building. “Transform here when you’re ready.” He said, panting. 

He paused, his claw gently touching her split skin.

“I’m fine.” She touched his cheek.

“I don’t believe you but I’m gonna go beat the akuma up for hurting you, now.” He kissed her cheek before rushing off.

She laughed to herself before bringing Tikki from her bag.

“I told you you’d get hurt, Marinette!” Tikki pouted, floating by her shoulder.

“I’m fine I promise. Tikki, transform me!” She called.

Tikki sighed, her concern evident on her sweet features. She zoomed into Marinette’s earrings nevertheless.

Ladybug swung off the roof and landed by her partner who was hitting the akuma with his staff.

“Nice of you to drop in, My Lady.” He winked.

The akuma growled, grabbing for his staff but he retracted it. Ladybug could see hairline fractures in the stone.

“Have you used your cataclysm yet?” She turned to him.

“Where is _Marinette?!_ ” The akuma yelled, frustrated.

“No, why? Oh,” he grinned. “You have a plan.”

“Use your cataclysm on the post behind the akuma, make sure it falls onto them. Maybe the momentum will make them fall to the ground then we can snap the stone carver.” She nodded.

“I love you.” He grinned before sneaking past the akuma to reach the post.

The akuma stabbed at him, anger in their stone eyes. He flipped over the carver, tail snapping out to slap the akuma across the face. Ladybug had just enough time to giggle before leaping out of the way of the increasingly frustrated akuma.

She glanced at Chat in her periphery. His cataclysm knocked the post down. It swayed where it was for a few moments until he coolly shoved it towards the akuma with a single claw. _So dramatic._

The post came crashing down on the akuma, making them stumble before crashing to the ground. Fractures in the marble appeared where the post crashed, spiralling out along the akuma’s body. They panted, glaring up at them with hateful eyes.

“I don’t need to destroy Marinette anyway.” They huffed. “Her boyfriend’s career is going down the toilet, that should be enough to break her.”

She could see Chat stalking towards the akuma, green eyes blazing. She summoned her lucky charm, a hammer type object dropped into her hand.

She glanced at the object, then up at the akuma. She strode over, plucking the carver from the akuma’s grip. She held the carver between the akuma’s shoulder blades and knocked the end of it with the charm. The carver dug into the akuma’s ‘skin’ momentarily before cracking, letting out a little black butterfly.

Ladybug sighed before reaching out to Chat, who took her hand as she purified to the butterfly. She tossed the hammer into the air and watched as everything returned to normal.

Her miraculous beeping insistently but the girl who sat by her in class was lying on the ground in a heap.

“Marinette.” Chat said in a low voice. “Your miraculous.”

“I’ll go in a second.” She waved him off before walking over and kneeling by the victim. “Hi.”

She sniffed. “What.”

“You’re an asshole.” Ladybug said sweetly. “You really shouldn’t break the rules and you shouldn’t hurt people like that.”

“I know.” She said dully.

“Why did you do it, then?”

“I… needed to get a degree there in the arts. Just getting into the school was a big deal but not for my parents. They laughed and said I’d be selling my sculptors on the street in a few years. I wanted to prove them wrong. Then I got kicked out-”

“Your fault.” Ladybug stated.

“And I needed someone to blame. It was easy to blame Marinette and Adrien.”

“Here’s what you’re going to do.” Her miraculous beeped again.

“Ladybug.” Chat’s voice was insistent.

“You’re going to tell everyone you sent that picture to that it was photoshopped or something. Make something up, lie, I don’t care. But Marinette and Adrien are good friends of mine and if I see that you haven’t fixed this, I’ll be at your doorstep.” She spun on her heel and walked away, leaving the police to find the victim.

Chat rushed her into an alley where they both released their transformations. Plagg fell dramatically into Marinette’s palm where Tikki was also resting. Adrien pouted.

“Adrien I think I need to see your father again.” She looked up at him.

His eyes grew wide. “Why?”

“He can help again I don’t know. I just want to fix this for you.”

His hands came around her waist, his fingers light on her lower back. He drew her close, burying his face in her hair. “I love you. And I’m coming.”

“No, I don’t think-”

“I’m _coming._ ”

She nodded.

“Hey, you’re crushing us!” Plagg whined from where he was rested in Marinette’s hand.

“Sorry, sorry.” She pulled away from Adrien before reaching into her bag with her free hand and passing Plagg a square of cheese.

“Adrien, she’s a real keeper.” Plagg hummed agreeably past a mouthful of cheese.

Tikki laughed. “I don’t know, I think Marinette’s too good for Adrien.”

Adrien pouted. “When will I win you over, Tikki?”

Tikki floated up to Adrien and kissed his nose affectionately.

Marinette giggled, bringing a cookie out for Tikki.

“We’ll be recharged and ready to go in a few minutes.” Tikki smiled, taking a dainty bite of the cookie.

“Then we can beat up Adrien’s father. I’ve always wanted to do that!” Plagg grinned.

“I love you too, Plagg.” Adrien teased.

Marinette kissed Adrien’s cheek before spotting a nearby park bench. She dragged him over and sat down, her head against his shoulder.

“Oh my god, your shoulder, are you okay?” He turned to sit so he was facing her.

“Doesn’t hurt.” She smiled.

He gently tugged the shirt, now new and not ripped, down to expose her shoulder. She blushed as he trailed his fingers from her collarbone across the wound. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, due to the transformation’s healing properties but it had scabbed over, occasionally pulsing with pain.

“I’m okay.” She rolled her eyes at the concern painting on his features.

His lips replaced his fingertips, drawing a gasp from her. He trailed butterfly kisses from her collarbone to the wound.

“Adrien…” She murmured listlessly.

She felt his smile against her skin. “Yes, My Lady?”

“We’re done please stop!” Plagg flew up hastily before trying to wedge himself between Adrien’s face and Marinette’s shoulder. When his attempt failed, he tapped Adrien’s nose annoyingly. “Please stop!”

“Okay, okay.” Marinette laughed, gently pushing Adrien away.

He pouted up at her before lifting her from the bench and hiding them away in the alley again. She watched him transform quickly, her heart filled with adoration when his hands came up to make his cat ears appear.

She transformed as well and they disappeared into the dying light. 

~

Chat was more than a little nervous and he knew that she knew that he was nervous. He knew that she knew that he knew that she knew he was nervous. He was so nervous, he couldn’t even think in coherent sentences. 

Gabriel Agreste was cold and indifferent but more or less harmless. Harmless to everyone but Adrien when he was younger.

Obviously, he mellowed over time. Obviously, he stopped when Adrien was a certain age. The secret parts of Adrien’s mind suspected that he only stopped because the bruises were a hassle to conceal during photo shoots. He let himself believe it was because his father realized it was wrong and was hurting his son.

He wouldn’t be nervous if they weren’t going to threaten his father. His father never took to threats. Why he helped when Ladybug showed up, Adrien didn’t know. But he was sure that it had something to do with his lady’s luck.

“Are you okay?” She whispered as they landed on his childhood mansion’s rooftop. The cold air was steadily growing colder as the sun sank into the horizon. The sky, dyed navy, reflected in Ladybug’s eyes and he sighed quietly.

“Fine, I’m fine.” He assured.

“Okay, last time I broke the window, looks like it’s fixed now though.” She blushed.

“You’re so dramatic, My Lady.” He teased.

“You’re the dramatic one.” She scoffed. “So should we break the window again or…?”

“I think we can sneak in through my room. I never locked the window so I could get in as Chat. Then we can burst into his office. It’s more dramatic.” He winked.

He led her over to other side of the roof, where his room was. They dropped over the ledge together, the wind blowing his blond hair into his face. She swung her yoyo up, latching onto the edge and slowing their fall to a stop. The wind stopped rushing and suddenly Paris seemed quiet and still.

They hovered over the window and he tapped it carefully before lifting it. He crawled in first. He reached out over the window’s ledge and gripped her waist as she retracted her yoyo before crawling in.

“Your room is bigger than my apartment. How are you surviving?” She teased.

He laughed.

“Remember all those times I walked in on you showering?” She blushed.

“I was never actually showering.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

She pouted and he laughed again. “Okay, okay, let’s go.”

He led her along the brightly lit, overly familiar halls that he used to roam aimlessly. Moments later, they were standing before the dark wooden doors of his father’s office.

After a deep breath, they burst into the door.

Chat had never seen his father so surprised.

“Ladybug, what are you doing here? I did what you asked didn’t you see?” He dropped his cool mask, only acknowledging Ladybug.

“Yes, I saw. Thank you. But I saw that Adrien is in trouble again and I wanted to ask what it was that you were doing to aid him now.” His lady strode into the room coolly, leaning on his father’s desk with confidence that made Chat’s knees weak.

“Nothing. I did my part. It isn’t my doing that he’s in this spiralling mess.” His father spat.

“As a father you should be helping. As a father you should be supporting him through anything and everything. As a father, you shouldn’t have to be threatened into doing _your job._ ” Chat strode over and slammed his hand against the desk.

His father blinked. “What do you propose I do, then? What are we supposed to do when there is evidence supporting otherwise?”

“You seem like you would know. Gabriel Agreste, fashion mogul, famous person. You must have to deal with the media often.” Ladybug regarded his father with sharp eyes.

“Will you kill me if I don’t help?” His father asked curiously.

“Yes.” She said immediately.

Chat shifted uncomfortably.

“What about you?” His father lifted his eyes to Chat for the first time.

“If my lady wants to kill you, I won’t hold her back.”

“Alright, then. I’ll see what I can do.” He inclined his head. “How did you get in?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Ladybug plucked Chat from where he stood and they crashed out the window, her yoyo outstretched to catch during their fall.

The rain was a soft patter against their suits, the water rolling from his leather suit without soaking it.

They landed on a roof but he didn’t let her go. “That went smoothly.” He murmured quietly.

She sighed into his embrace. “Yeah, about as smooth as last time.”

“That’s good, right? He helped last time.”

She released her transformation and he followed her lead, not letting go of her. Her shirt materialized over his hand so his fingers were against her bare waist. He drew her closer, the rain drenched her hair and it stuck to his skin.

He was suddenly thrown back to the first time he’d really met her. The first time she’d become his friend. Not Ladybug, but Marinette.

The rain had pounded down on them just like it did now. He had had an umbrella, though. He was glad he didn’t have one now.

“I don’t know, Adrien.” She whispered quietly.

“I’ll be fine. Maybe modelling agencies will like that I like to get naked for people.” He said lightly.

“What if they force you into doing something you don’t want to do?”

“They won’t.”

“What if they do?”

“Then I’ll quit modelling. And I’ll finish school. And I’ll apply to be a professor somewhere. I don’t know, Mari, we’ll cross the bridge when we get there.”

“I love you.” She murmured.

His lips found hers and he found that he didn’t mind the raindrops that slid between their lips. He didn’t mind that her lips were slippery against his. He pulled away from her, holding her face in his hands. “Let’s go home.”

She nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I watched origins today after Volpina. Yes, I died at the rain scene. Yes, I needed to end the chapter like this. Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Hit me up on tumblr sometime: reyxa.tumblr.com


	15. Chapter XV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stunning conclusion to the plot. There's still one more chapter, no worries ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, school and things were happening! Also this is the last chapter that's actually related to the plot so I kept putting off writing it as illustrated by the two ficlets I wrote in the past few weeks cx
> 
> Enjoy!

“Should we record it or should I just quote you in the article?” Alya asked as she picked up her notebook.

Adrien shrugged a shoulder. “Whichever.”

Marinette, having been worrying at her lip, placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “Maybe we should record it, just so no one can accuse Alya of putting words in your mouth or something.”

He nodded and she could heard his ragged exhale of breath. “You’ll stay?” He whispered.

“I probably shouldn’t be in the shot but I’ll be behind the camera.” She replied softly.

He nodded, kissing her cheek carefully before sitting by Alya.

Marinette shoved her frigid hands into her armpits and moved to stand behind ALya’s set up where Nino was giving Adrien a thumbs up.

“Ready?” Alya smiled supportively.

Adrien nodded as Alya directed Marinette to turn her camera on.

“Hi, Ladybloggers, today we have an interview with model, Adrien Agreste.” Alya spoke with an overly bright, extremely excited tone.

Marinette hid a snort at the cliche opening line.

“How are you today, Monsieur Agreste?” Marinette caught Alya’s smirk at her own use of ‘Monsieur Agreste’. It was too formal for the boy they had witnessed picking gum off a seat.

“I’m good, and you?” Adrien replied coolly.

Marinette struggled to hide her giggles at the charade.

“Great. So can you explain what happened this past week?” Alya was a much better reporter than the one who interviewed them earlier. She was kind and considerate, her questions pressing but her tone easy. The other interviewer looked at them like they were guilty of a class one felony. Even with Ladybug and Chat Noir, Alya wasn’t overly pressing. Marinette smiled. Lya was naturally easy to navigate conversations with. Which made her a perfect candidate to be Marinette’s best friend.

Marinette watched as Adrien retold the story of the past few days. Ladybug had talked to the girl who caused this whole mess but Marinette hadn’t received results passed a single, cryptic, ‘I’m sorry’ text. Gabriel, too, had yet to say anything on the matter. Marinette was seething.

Alya nodded along as Adrien concluded his story. “What was your reasoning for lying during the interview earlier.”

Adrien gulped. “I was only thinking about my career and how these events would impact it.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“I don’t regret taking the job. It was something nice I was doing for people who asked kindly. Besides,” he gazed up at Marinette and she found herself blushing under his raw stare. “I wouldn’t have met Marinette again.”

Marinette beamed. _Dumb cat._

Alya was smirking in a way Chat would be proud of. And he obviously was. “What do you have to say to the person who leaked the images?”

He exhaled. “The person was careless when they took it but actually leaking it is a big deal especially since the school doesn’t even give the names of the models. It really wasn’t cool. But I don’t think they deserve public backlash for it, just let the law deal with it.”

“Do you have a comment on Gabriel Agreste’s claim that ‘Agreste men don’t lie’?”

“My father had my back. I’ll always be grateful for it but I agree, lying was a bad idea.” He blushed and Marinette just wanted to shove the camera out of his face and kiss him until all the drama melted away.

“There you have it, everyone. The undeniable truth. Have a nice week, Ladybloggers!” Alya signed off with a tilt of her head and little salute.

Marinette shut off the camera before sitting by Adrien.

“That was quick and painless. I hope it’s enough.” He sighed.

“I’ll have it edited and up in a few hours.” Alya smiled.

“A few hours to kill, what do you guys want to do to pass the time?” Marinette smiled up at Nino as she took Adrien’s hand.

“Actually, I think I’m gonna help Alya out. Whatever you two are gonna do, I’d rather not watch.” Nino laughed.

“Better shut your eyes, then.” Adrien laughed before pressing his lips to hers and drawing her into his lap.

“They have no decency. Come on.” Marinette heard Alya laugh and drag Nino away.

She pulled away from him and pressed her hand to his cheek. “You’re okay?”

“Everything’s okay with you here.” He breathed.

_“Adrien.”_ She said exasperatedly.

“What?” His green eyes were innocent.

“You _can’t_ say things like that.” She pouted.

“Why not?” He teased.

_“Because.”_

“Because?”

She kissed him, her legs wrapping around his waist.

He smiled against her lips, his hands around her waist. “Let’s do another art lesson to pass the time.” He mumbled.

“You’re up for it?”

“I’m always up for you teaching me a lesson. I’d rather do it in bed but I’m all for doing it on your table.” He winked.

She rolled her eyes before leaving his lap to gather her supplies.

~

“What are we learning today?” He was seated in her desk chair, looking up at her as she dumped her art supplies on her desk.

“You,” she touched his nose with her pencil. “Don’t practice. So you will do that. For the next few hours.”

He pouted. “Nothing new yet?”

“If you get the hang of everything fast then maybe I’ll teach you about oil pastels.” She smiled, pulling up a chair.

He reached out and took her hips, steering her into his lap. He rested his head on her shoulder. “What am I drawing today, then?”

“Something really really easy. Draw a watering can, a steel one, with a small bird on the handle. The can is sitting on grass with flowers and the background is a brick wall.”

“Where did that come from?” He kissed along the curve of her neck.

“Something I drew a while ago. Get to it.” She passed the pencil to his right hand, making him switch to the other. “Oh, sorry.”

He kissed her cheek. “No problem, Princess.”

He drew a line about three-fourths of the way from the top of the paper.

“Stop, stop! What’s that line called?” Her eyes glittered brightly.

“I… you didn’t tell me, you can’t just ask that!” He whined.

“It’s not hard, _minou_.” She rolled her eyes. “Starts with an ‘h’, where the sky meets the ground.”

“Um… what did the french lawyer say to his wife?”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“ Je ™.” He laughed into her shoulder.

“When do you come up with these? I always assumed you wrote them down off the internet and memorized them right before patrol.”

“It’s a secret, my lady.” He grinned.

“Chat,” she whined. “What’s the line called?”

“Sorry, Buginette, I have no idea.” Being called Chat outside the mask was a rush of adrenaline through his veins.

“It’s the horizon line.” She slid out of his lap and into her own chair. At his dismayed expression she kissed him. “I felt like I was crushing you.”

“You?” He laughed. “Crush me? The only crushing that occurred that’s related to you is me having a crush on you.”

“That just barely made sense, kitty.” She laughed.

He kissed her forehead. “Whatever happened to your pigtails?” He said as he attempted to recall what a watering can was.

“Too immature. I’m a grown _woman_ now, Adrien.”

“Mari, I have no idea what a watering can looks like.” He pouted as she rolled her eyes.

He watched as her slim fingers tapped out the word on the search engine. Her thumb reached up to tap ‘images’, pulling up images of a teapot-like object.

“I have never seen that before in my entire life.”

She laughed, the sound as musical as ever. “You’ve _never_ watered a plant before?”

He shook his head.

“Well, now I have to get you like a succulent or something for your apartment.” She smiled. “Speaking of your apartment, you can go back now, the roads are clear. Not that I want you to go!” She hurriedly added.

He laughed. “I like it here. My apartment is pretty empty, there’s a lot of space but no one’s there to fill it. We should go there today. Lots of privacy.” He winked.

“Privacy? Why would we oh.” She blushed. “Just work on your drawing, Chaton.”

That he did, staring at her phone to copy down the watering can. He had learned to observe through her teaching. He started a rectangle, a long , thin triangle making up the ‘tube’ that the water went through and an oval at the end of it. The handle was half of a heart. After that, he rounded the edges of the rectangle to give the illusion of a rounded bucket.

The bird was a small, rounded oval, almost a circle, with a circular head and small little beak and cute little stick legs.

It wasn’t… great, he was sure Marinette could have drawn it a thousand times better but it wasn’t ugly either. He could tell Marinette liked it but he could also see her eyes catching on mistakes she wouldn’t point out to him.

She didn’t coddle him though, she did point out lines that were drawn in weird angles and told him when something didn’t work out right. Ladybug never had any trouble calling out Chat, it wasn’t any different with Marinette and Adrien.

“Adrien how are you picking this up so fast?” She glared at him. “Are you secretly an art student or something.”

“I’m not secretly an art student, I _am_ an art student. And you’re my teacher.” She rolled her eyes at him. “And I dunno I used to draw sometimes, ladybugs, cats, you. But not _passionately_ everyday sketchbook kind of drawing.”

“What do you mean _me_?” She cocked an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes, heat rising to his cheeks. “I had a major crush on you, Mari. Well not you you not that I didn’t like you I would have liked you but I mean _Ladybug_ you.” He let out a breath. “I had a crush on Ladybug so I ended up drawing her all the time on notes in class and stuff.”

He watched her bury her face in her hands, confusion bursting in his head.

“Are you okay?”

She groaned. “Why are you so _cute_?”

He dropped her pencils, a wide grin on his lips as he drew her wrists away from her face. She was blushing as she looked up at him. It reminded him of the way she had looked up at him when his umbrella closed over her. When laughter had bubbled from his throat and she was staring up at him with blue _blue_ eyes before she chuckled along with him. “I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

She hugged him and he could feel her heart thumping against him. “Let’s go to your apartment.” She murmured.

It was his heart’s turn to thump wildly. “What for?”

“ _Privacy._ ” He could almost _hear_ her rolling her eyes.

“What do we need that for?”

“You’re the _worst_.” She pulled away from him before tapping his paper. “Never mind. Oil pastels time.”

_“Mari_ ,” he whined.

“No, hush. Oil pastels are like intense crayons. They’re a lot softer, more sticky I guess. You can use stumps to blend them but the colors usually blend when you layer them over each other.”

“Marinette, why did you want to go to my apartment!”

“ _Adrien,_ ” she blushed, her face in her hands again.

He laughed. “I love you, my lady.”

She gave him that _look. “Anyway,_ using white is the best way to blend. And you can’t have too many layers or the color starts kinda peeling-”

“Say you love me.” He rested his head in her lap, nudging her hand away.

Her fingers were stuck in his hair. “I love you, you dumb cat.”

He grinned. “Continue.”

“Did you even hear what I said?” She laughed.

“White blends well, not too many layers, intense crayons.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Love you too.”

“So with charcoal you can blend with your fingers but if you do that with oil pastel it kinda just smears in a gross way. So stump is the easiest way, I like to think. They’re kinda hard to get the hang of which is why this is a picture with a lot of space in it so you can cover mistakes.”

“Mmm.”

“Hey, nerds, the video is going up!” Alya yelled from the other room.

Adrien let out a breath.

“Thanks, Alya!”

His phone started ringing as soon as the video went up.

~

Marinette would have felt better if they were bursting in through Gabriel Agreste’s window rather than ringing his front door.

The bursting and breaking down was a very important part of superhero-ing. It gave a sense of confidence, control over the situation.

But they weren’t superhero-ing, they were meeting with Adrien’s father for an important meeting.

“Le Gorille,” Adrien whispered to her as a large hulking man opened the door and let them in. A slim woman was standing on the other side with a clipboard. Her hair was tied back in a tight, strict bun. “Nathalie, nice to see you again.” Adrien nodded to the woman.

Marinette laced her fingers through his as they entered the house.

_“But why does he want Marinette to come?” Alya asked._

_“I have no idea, Alya, but I promise you’ll know everything that happens.” Adrien sighed._

_“Can we come too?” Nino lifted an eyebrow._

_“You’d better not. He did ask specifically for me and Adrien.” Marinette said quietly._

_“Be careful.” Alya nodded._

_“Always.”_

“Adrien.” Gabriel was seated at the desk that he had been sitting at when Ladybug crashed through his window. He had had fear flashing in his cool glare but now all that was there was powerful indifference.

“Pére.” Adrien smiled but Marinette could see the questions behind his eyes.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I apologize, the last time we met there was no time to chat.” Gabriel smiled, not very kindly.

She nodded. “Nice to see you again, Monsieur Agreste.”

“You must be wondering why I’ve called you here, Adrien.” Gabriel regarded his son again.

He nodded.

“I… am taking control of your career again.” Gabriel seemed to sigh.

“Wh-what?” His green eyes were wide with surprise. “Why?”

“I’ll take no amount of the money you own. I will just be aiding you for a few months.”

“But why?”

Gabriel exhaled. “When you said you were prepared to be independent I… didn’t like it so I dropped you completely. You are the only one left of my family, Adrien. I couldn’t understand why you wanted to leave the comfortable life I built for you. But children shouldn’t be kept on a leash, neither should they be completely let go of. I… want you to be part of my life. When your mother…” he trailed off. “Anyway, I thought after everything that has occurred, you’d need help getting back on your horse. I am prepared to help. If you want it.”

Marinette held her breath as Adrien let go of her hand. His hand clenched and unclenched before he was throwing his arms around his father. She closed her eyes, unsure what her part in this intimate moment was.

“I’m sorry, Adrien.” She heard Gabriel whisper.

She could tell Adrien had tears cutting trails of moisture down his cheeks. She could feel her own tears burning beneath her eyelids.

When she opened her eyes, the two had separated, Adrien unreadable.

“But why did you call Marinette here?” Adrien asked.

“I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her past her winning that contest years ago.” Gabriel extended a hand to her and she tentatively shook it. “So you’re a designer are you?”

She nodded. “I still need to get my degree in the arts but this is my last year. I’ll be applying to internships very soon.”

“Would you consider interning here?”

She held her breath. “I couldn’t… with my affiliation with your son it’s…”

“I understand. Feel free to call me if any designers give you trouble.”

She nodded, suddenly just the smallest bit guilty for threatening him.

“It was nice to see you, Pére, but Marinette and I have somewhere to be.” Adrien took her hand.

“Yes, I’ll see you soon, Adrien.”

~

 

“Well that was,” Marinette sighed.

“I know.” Adrien brushed tears from his face, still having not completely digested what exactly happened.

“My parents aren’t too far from here. We could go to the bakery to grab something to eat?” Marinette slid her arm through his.

“Oh yes please. Those macarons are my comfort food.” He pressed a hand to his chest, remembering the taste of those sweet balls of joy.

“When did you ever have our macarons?” She laughed as they walked towards her house.

“Nino used to slip them to me all the time whenever I wasn’t feeling well. They got me through high school, Marinette.” Realization struck him. “Can you make those?”

“Not as well as Papa can but kinda.”

“Oh my god, I am so glad I fell in love with you.” He kissed her hair.

She laughed.

It was moments of comfortable silence until they reached the bakery. They didn’t even reach the door when she was ripped off his arm by her father’s bear hug.

Adrien stood by, watching the reunion a little jealously.

“Marinette, you haven’t called, you haven’t visited, your old man was getting worried!” Tom scolded laughingly.

“Sorry, Papa, I’ve been a little busy.” Marinette laughed.

“Adrien, how are you?” Sabine smiled kindly at him.

“Pretty great, how are you?” He smiled.

“We’ve been missing Marinette but we’ve managed. What brings you here?”

“We were in the area so Mari suggested we come here to eat something.”

Sabine looked at him. “Are you two…?”

He blushed.

Sabine’s smile was too much like Marinette’s as she hugged him.

He stiffened before hugging the small woman. Marinette was already too small, Sabine was even smaller.

“Adrien, my boy,” Tom said jovially as Sabine let go of him. “How are you?”

Marinette slid an arm around him as he answered. “I’m pretty great, you?”

“Amazing now that you two are here! Go up to Marinette’s room, we’ll bring you something to eat.” He laughed.

Marinette was blushing as Tom and Sabine let them into the store and forced them up the stairs. “Let’s not go into my room.” She said as her parents left.

“Why not?” His hand reached toward the door.

“Adrien, no, please-”

He opened it. It was a pink wonderland, a small pile of fabric in the corner and a neat bedspread. What really caught his eye was his adolescent face _everywhere._

Magazine clippings, class pictures, selfies. Everywhere he turned, he was staring at himself.

He looked at her seeing a blushing mess instead of Marinette. He laughed. “Marinette-”

“I’m sorry, it’s weird I know I was just-”

He rolled his eyes. “You don’t think Ladybug is all over my room, Marinette?”

Her jaw popped open.

“My computer’s wallpaper, pictures printed from the Ladyblog, everything. I think all this,” he gestured to her room. “Is pretty adorable.” He winked.

She groaned. “Kiss me.”

He obliged happily, scooping her up in his arms and depositing her on her bed. He kicked off his shoes before trapping her beneath him. Her lips were on his, her fingers toying with the hairs at the base of his head. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, his other hand deep in her hair.

It was a Ladybug and Chat kiss, the kind of kiss he would give her in the pressed time they had before her transformation melted away. But now, they had all the time in the world.

“So I guess everything’s okay now, with the whole nudes thing?” She whispered in the space between their lips.

“Not okay, just better. I think it’ll be a relief to have my father helping me out with all this. I don’t think it’s just going to disappear but he’ll help. You made sure of that.” He kissed along her jaw.

“I love you.” She whispered.

“Marinette,” Sabine cleared her throat from the trapdoor.

Adrien sprung away from her, rubbing the back of his neck as Marinette took the food from her parents.

“Thanks Mama, Papa,” she blushed.

They both smiled kindly. “Welcome to the family, Adrien.” Tom laughed. “Came in with a bang didn’t you?”

Marinette gaped. “Papa!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the conclusion for those of you who aren't comfortable with reading smut because ho boy next chapter is smutty smutty smutty. But thank you for reading this fic and giving it this much love, I really appreciate it <333
> 
> SPEAKING OF SMUT I'm a 16 year old virgin who doesn't know anything about sex past The Ladybug and the Bees so if any of you who are proficient in the smut are willing to help me out with it I would be eternally grateful. I could read smut to do research but I'd rather have an awkward conversation with one of you than read that cx
> 
> So drop a comment or hit me up on tumblr (reyxa.tumblr.com) and we can exchange some contact information and we can talk smut!


	16. Chapter XVI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's for you Bully ;)
> 
> so is the next one haha oops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY sorry this is late I was struggling I'm still struggling I ended up cutting it here so I could post what I had and have more time to finish the rest of it so like consider this part one of smut like I've been working on this since like before Chapter 11
> 
> Also this is like an epilogue of sorts which means it takes place a few months into the future from where we left off on 15
> 
> Also huge giant enormous thank you to mirthalia who held my hand and guided me through this chapter and will probably end up doing the same for the next. I'd say this chapter is like 45% them and 50% me and 5% of '???'
> 
> Enjoy!

Adrien grinned up at his gorgeous girlfriend, butterflies running rampant in his stomach. “Are you ready, My Lady?"

Marinette nodded— nodding that turned into shaking her head.

Adrien's grin slipped. He found himself kneeling at her feet, staring up at her with her hands in his. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Marinette,” he said quietly, broadcasting as much sincerity as he could.

Her smile was grateful, even as she blushed. “I told you I wanted to, Chaton,” she replied, her voice timid but firm.

“I just want to point out that every verb you just said was in past tense.” Adrien looked at her pointedly before drawing her hands up, pressing soft kisses to her knuckles. “I just don’t want to force you.”

“How did you do it?”

He grinned. “The first time? I was getting paid, so I had an obligation. Same thing the second time, but I also wanted to see you. The third time, when it was just us, I owed you... and I really wanted to see the finished piece. By the fourth time, it was easy." His grin widened. "You’d already seen me naked a billion times, what was one more? And I was absolutely in love with you— what guy doesn’t want to get naked in front of the girl he wants?” He winked.

Marinette's answering blush made him feel like he was glowing.

“Tell me, Princess, why are you doing it?” he asked softly, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles.

Marinette sank to her knees as well, her blue eyes mesmerizing as she stared up at him. She freed one hand hand and raised it to lightly cup his jaw, her fingertips brushing against his skin. “You need practice with human figure and painting," she replied. "It would be fun to have a matched set, and I love you. I trust you. And I’m feeling just insane enough right now.”

By the time she finished saying her piece, her cheekbones, ears, and neck were all the loveliest shade of pink, a color Adrien felt creeping up his own neck.

“As long as you’re comfortable, mademoiselle.” He planted a kiss to her forehead. “You can keep your underwear on, if you want,” he whispered, and grinned. “It might even be sexier that way.”

“But Adrien...” Marinette batted her lashes and leaned close like she was whispering a secret. Adrien swallowed. “...What if I’m not wearing any?”

A groan escaped his lips, thoughts on a one-way trip to Naked Town. “Marinette…”

Her giggle drew him back to Paris. “I _am_ wearing underwear, but we should be prepared for every situation. Isn’t that right, kitten?” Her sapphire eyes were filled with playfulness that sent him reeling. “In any case, I’ve already teased you about this day relentlessly. Many, many blue-balled days have you suffered.”

Adrien felt a thrill run up his spine as her eyes lost all innocence, half-lidding to match her sultry tone. “So I won’t keep my maybe-existent underwear on. Besides, I don’t own any lingerie sexy enough to be worth painting.”

“We’ll remedy that soon,” Adrien murmured, and drew her into his lap. He pressed his lips to hers, in love with the way her lips immediately rose to tease him.

Marinette laughed endearingly as the kiss ended and she detangled herself. Standing up, she propped a hand on her hip, grinning down at him.

Adrien scrambled to his feet as well, towering over her.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Do you have all your supplies, Chat?”

He grinned. Only when they were alone and untransformed did she use ‘Chat’ and ‘Adrien’ interchangeably. It made his heart flutter wildly. “Yes, my Lady.”

Her lips parted like she was going to say something. Instead, she blushed and turned away from him.

Things he was expecting: Marinette going into the bathroom to undress, or an ‘I changed my mind, kitten, I’m sorry’.

Things that happened: Marinette pulling off her shirt in one fluid, sexy motion.

He was pretty sure Little Adrien had already come out to play, and she wasn’t even half undressed yet.

Adrien had time to admire her bare shoulders and the prominent ridges of her spine before her pants slid from her long legs, pooling on the floor around her ankles.

He was swooning.

The love of life was standing only in her bra and panties in front of him.

“So,” she said conversationally. He could hear her nerves in her voice. “What’s next?”

 _What’s next?_ “Uh, what?” He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

She laughed, rich and lilting. “Never mind, Chaton, you’re too out of it for me to tease you.”

He was just about to exclaim _No please, tease me!_ when he saw her fingers groping for the clasp of her bra. “...Need help?”

He'd meant to say it with Chat Noir’s confidence, but it came out as a breath of air from Adrien’s lips.

He couldn’t see her face, but Marinette's ears reddened. He’d bet his life that she was grinning, holding back a laugh. Instead of answering she nodded, her loose hair bouncing.

Adrien was sure he had never lived a better day in his life. He reached for her bra’s clasp, gently brushing her fingers away, and... pulling rather ineffectively.

“You are awful at this.” Marinette laughed. “Pull the two ends closer until it unclasps, not apart.”

Adrien swore quietly as he tried to get the goddamn thing _off_. Finally, _finally_ , he succeeded, her bra falling from her shoulders.

He could see it in detail only as it fell to the floor. It was plain, supportive, and red, with lace trim in black along the cups. He wondered why on Earth she didn’t think it was sexy.

“On a scale of 1-10, how dead are you right now?” All traces of timidness were gone from her voice, replaced by a shit-eating smugness.

“10,000,” he murmured. He let his fingers skate along the muscles in her shoulder, keeping his touch slow to make sure she was completely on board.

She definitely was, going by the sigh that left her lips as his lips replaced his fingers. “If you insist on touching me then this painting is _not_ going to get done,” she stated firmly.

Adrien felt his lips quirk up in a grin. “What would we be doing instead, mademoiselle?” He kept his tone sultry, suggestive.

Marinette shot him a warning look.

“Okay, okay.” Laughing, he took a small step away from her to help keep himself under control.

Her panties — red, spotted, and adorable — joined her jeans on the floor.

Adrien had trouble swallowing. _Marinette_ was standing _naked_ in front of him. _Ladybug_ was standing _naked_ in front of him.

She must have had a lot of self-control when she did this all those months ago.

With an effort he kept his gaze on the back of her head, knowing he could stare at her all he wanted soon enough.

She took a deep breath and he watched the muscles in her back shift as she drew in air. “Where do you want me?” she asked quietly.

_He could think of a few places._

Adrien reached out, sort of half-listening, and trailed his fingers along the smattering of freckles on her shoulders. Her skin was littered with them. On her arms, her shoulders, across her nose. Single lonely freckles dotted her skin too, away from the clusters, like the one on the first little bump of her spine. He wanted to map those pale constellations with his eyes, his lips, his fingers. He wanted to memorize the patterns, see them flash across his sight whenever he blinked.

_Later._

“Adrien?” She said his name softly, but he could hear the shy laughter in her tone.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, just, uh— um— just sit however you want. Be comfortable and all that,” he managed to blurt.

Marinette stepped towards the couch and Adrien absently arranged his brushes. When he looked up again, he saw blue staring back at him.

She was facing him, seated on the couch with her spine straight, her hands in her lap and her legs crossed one over another. A light blush joined the freckles on her face.

He was so completely struck by the image that all he could do was stare at her, dumbfounded.

“Good there, kitten?” Marinette raised an eyebrow, looking at him the way Ladybug did when Chat was being ridiculously flirty. Something halfway between amused and bewildered.

Adrien startled and hastily moved to sit in front of the easel she had set up for him, knocking her paint palette to the floor. Swearing quietly, he picked it up only to hit his head against the easel.

Marinette giggled quietly and he honestly wanted to kiss her. “Good luck, kitten. Don’t throw anything when you get frustrated with it.”

Adrien couldn't help but laugh, remembering the time when he'd flung her nice, perfectly sharpened 2H pencil at the wall. There was still a dent by the coffee table.

He picked up his pencil, no longer restricted to 2H; he actually found himself preferring the softer pencils. Steeling himself, he walked through some breathing exercises he often used at work and made sure his boner was at least minimally reined in before he began.

Women, he found, were _hard_ to draw. All curves and proportions and elegant, slim fingers. Men were pretty easy: straight down, maybe tapered at the waist, but for the most part it was all very straightforward.

Not to mention it was _Marinette_ he was drawing. With Marinette, his attention caught on little things all the time, her needle-pricked fingers, the way her lashes fluttered, when her forehead creased with concern, the curve of her throat. It would take him _hours_ because he needed to get _everything_ right. Not just because she deserved it — of course she did — but also because he would never be satisfied if he messed this up.

He touched the pencil to the paper of his sketchbook. He'd insisted that she shouldn’t rip any more papers out of her book, so Marinette had bought him one of his own. All of the sketchbooks she bought were multi-purpose, good for drawing, shading, charcoal, watercolor, even oil paints as long as the formula wasn't too dense.

Shaking his head, Adrien looked up at her, his heart skittering at the ghost of a smile that lit her blushing features. Sketching carefully, he focused on the very basic shapes of her limbs. He started by lightly sketching the shape of her face, then drew two lines to match the curve of her neck. Then an ovoid shape for her torso, with two more ovals fanning out from the center to give the basic shape of her hips. Then her thighs, crossed one over the other, followed by her legs. He left her without feet for the time being. Feet were _hard_.

Shoulders were sketched out from her neck, arms following behind. He left her handless too — another tough spot.

During the entire process Adrien was trying his absolute best not to stare at Marinette too hard. Unfortunately, he’d need to look at every inch of her skin to get the details and proportions down.

As it was, the basic outline wasn’t even _good_. It was mediocre, anyone with basic motor skills could do it. His father might have been a designer, but Adrien could not draw to save his life.

And Marinette had tried so hard to give him the skill set, too. Months and months of drawings and paintings and sketching and learning, all for shitty work.

His other pieces weren’t bad. He was even a little proud of them. But this... this needed to be _perfect_. Because it was for _Marinette_ , who was the most perfect person he knew.

“Marinette,” he eventually groaned.

“Mm?” There was concern in her voice but beneath that, amusement.

“This is going to suck and I need you to know that before your expectations get too high,” Adrien mumbled.

Marinette laughed. “Anything you draw will be beautiful.”

“You say that now, but later…” he warned.

“It’s fine, everyone hates their own art. It never looks like what people imagine in their heads, so they settle for less and pray no one notices. But everyone looking at it thinks it’s the greatest thing to ever exist, and— I’m going to stop talking now because you’ll never get the lines right if I keep moving.” She pursed her lips together, straining to keep her smile away.

“ _You’re_ saying that? Wasn’t it just yesterday that you were crying over that design, hmm?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him.

“Don’t move,” he scolded, returning to his work.

She rolled her eyes at him before schooling her features.

Adrien grinned to himself, because all of the sudden she was _comfortable_. Or maybe in denial. But hopefully _comfortable_. He could still see red painted all over her face and down her neck, but at least she wasn’t freaking out. Well, visibly. He was sure she wasn’t freaking out internally, either — he would be able to tell. Probably.

With his basic outline finished, Adrien began to add detail, making lines clearer and filling in more minor elements. He skipped over Marinette's facial features; they would take hours to get right, and while he intended on putting in every moment of those hours, now was not the time. Instead he focused on the hard muscles in her legs, the curve of her heel, the diagonal plane of her foot. It took seven tries to get her foot right, but he did it and was proud.

Letting his gaze trail up to her thighs, he appreciated how slim and muscular they were. It made them easy to draw, with just a quick line here and there to lay a guideline for shadows.

Adrien let out a breath. It was time for her torso. The torso meant _other things_ , things that were undoubtedly going to lead to the air being thick with awkwardness.

He just hoped it wouldn't take him too long.

~

Marinette’s spine was completely straight in the most uncomfortable way possible, but she couldn’t move it even if she wanted to when Adrien’s gaze froze her so completely in place.

She was disconcerted by the relief she'd felt when his eyes had first focused on her legs and not… other parts of her body. She _should_ be okay with his green gaze trailing over her skin. The thought of it made her heart thump wildly in her chest. But seeing it in practice made her nervous to the point where she couldn’t move her muscles at all.

Of course she loved him, of course she trusted him, and of course she was comfortable with this. The irrational, panicked parts of her mind were just... very insistent.

So she distracted herself with the one thing that always served as a distraction: *him*.

Marinette smiled to herself at the concentration in Adrien's summery eyes. Her heart fluttered wildly at the sight of the very tip of his tongue peeking out from between his lips. She took in every little detail, letting the adoration she felt for her boyfriend overtake her until she was nearly melting into her seat.

While her gaze meandered, Adrien's eyes slowly drifted from her legs to her hips, pausing only momentarily before stopping at her waist. The urge to cover the area with her hands rolled over her, but Marinette fought it, because he had that starry-eyed gaze that made her want to shove her fingers in his hair and kiss him until the world ended.

It had been months since their lives had come crashing back together in art class. Months since she’d drawn him naked, months since his father had taken the reins of his modelling career. Months of dates and kisses and cuddling. They hadn’t had sex yet, but the late nights of lazy, sleepy kisses and mornings spent waking up with his hands in her hair and his warm weight draped over her were just as good.

Along with work, internships, patrols, and dating, they had continued their private art sessions. Adrien seemed pretty interested in learning it, which always made her heart stumble.

He had artist’s hands, no doubt about that. Art was learned — you couldn’t be born drawing and painting like an expert, but Marinette couldn't deny that Adrien had some innate talent. It had made her a little jealous how quickly he learned it all, but she chalked it up to him internalizing skills while watching his father design. Adding to that, he was also an extraordinarily smart person who learned quickly.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Marinette returned to the present to find Adrien’s pencil paused in the air and his eyes squeezed shut. His face was flushed a bright red.

“Adrien?” She tilted her head.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Just need a second.”

Marinette nodded, although he couldn’t see it. A shiver ran over her body, and all of the sudden she was extremely conscious of the chill in the room. Had it always been this cold in her apartment? Maybe it was just because she wasn’t dressed. Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a blanket or a sweater or an Adrien wrapped around her.

Chills skittered down her spine, followed by a strange but familiar sensation in her chest. Adrien was still taking his "second", so Marinette let herself look down.

Her suspicions were confirmed. The little pink buds on the peaks of her breasts had made their appearance. Marinette bit down on her lip and resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest, if only to warm herself up again.

Face aflame, she chanced a glance back at Adrien, who had opened his eyes again and was staring down at his paper. His green eyes lifted to hers, and Marinette tried to pose a questioning look without actually moving any part of her face.

Even if she looked a little odd, she knew her partner caught her meaning. He knew what every look, every glance, and every twitch of motion meant when it came to her. He shook his head, a shy smile on his lips. She let loose a sigh.

A sigh that she sucked back into her lungs, spine straightening into a line once more as his green eyes dropped from her eyes to her chest.

Choking on air, Marinette held her breath, eyes searching for any distraction. The tilted frame on the wall, a mistake in the canvas painting she had been proud enough to put on display, the coffee cup that had been sitting on the table for _ages_ , and _where_ were Tikki and Plagg?

Oh god, what if an _akuma attack_ happened during all this? What would they do? If she dropped her transformation and her suit melted away, would she be _naked_ in the middle of Paris?

Maybe Tikki would hold on enough to let her run home or she could release her transformation in the dressing rooms of a store and have Adrien buy her something really quick. She’d pay him back of course-

Her spine unwound from its tight coil as his viridian eyes left her chest, trailing along her collarbone.

~

Adrien exhaled, his pants were far too tight to function at this point. Oh god, he wanted to toss the sketchbook and the canvas and the paints out her window before ravishing her.

This was far too impossible and he had no idea how Marinette had managed to sit through this with him. Not only that but her muscles but be as rigid as rock. She had no experience with posing for long periods of times like he did. Sure, modelling required movement but often it was his face that moved. _Tilt your head this way, smile more brightly, I need energy!_

Not to mention he could feel waves of embarrassment radiating from her as he openly stared at her chest. In his opinion she _really_ had nothing to be embarrassed about... but then again, his own self-consciousness had slipped away after years of being praised for his face — and body.

Adrien sighed. Now he had everything but Marinette's hair, her facial features, her hands, and her feet.

He drew a sort of curved line to shape the top contour of her foot, then found himself cringing at her toes. They were like fingers except smaller, and _how are you supposed to know if you drew them too long are they proportional where does the other toe go?_

Somehow he managed to fix things without any tears, which was a moment to be recorded in the history books. With light, sketchy strokes, he drew the curve of the ball of her foot, after somehow (probably by the grace of god) drawing her arch in one try.

Adrien slowly exhaled.

 _Hands_.

Marinette’s hands were artist’s hands. They were small, slim-fingered, and had an iron grip. They were the kind of hands violinists gazed upon with jealousy burning in their chests like wildfire. They were needle-pricked, dotted with little holes that had once welled up with blood but were now nearly healed.

He shut his eyes, memories of her gloved fingers pressed to his lips playing in his mind.

 _Focus_.

Grimacing, Adrien tried to draw her slim hands. They were resting on her thigh, folded together. He bit his lip, carefully scratching the curve of her fingers onto the paper with his pencil.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was semi-proportional, and that was what mattered.

Her hair was more or less simple. She had let it down, the dark locks curling over her freckled shoulders. He considered himself fairly good at hair, thank you very much.

Moments later, he had sort-of successfully drawn his girlfriend, at least in a way he was kind of proud of.

“I’m done drawing.” He looked up at Marinette, seeing her lips quirked in a sweet lopsided smile. She was still completely red, which swept his remaining nerves under the rug.

“Can I see? Or are you going to paint it now?”

“You’re not tired or stiff? We’ve been at it for a few hours, now, Bug.” He put his pencils away, keeping his eyes trained on his sketch. He didn’t trust himself or his 'little friend' enough to let himself look at her.

“Ah, well if you’re ready to sit for a few more hours, I’m okay.” Marinette nodded in his peripheral vision.

“You don’t want to take… a _break_?” He purred the word, eyes flicking up to enjoy his front row view of her reaction.

She somehow managed to blush even more. “I uh, well, if you want, I don’t mind taking a break.”

Adrien stood up, stretching his legs, then his arms, making sure his shirt rode up just a bit. “Sure. Let’s take a break.”

~

Adrien’s teasing was going to be the death of her. If he didn’t stop with that goddamn purring, Marinette was either going to jump him or throw him out the window.

It didn’t help that every time he looked at her, his eyes flickered over her like he _wanted_ something.

Every touch was electric, especially since he had managed to pull her into his lap. _Especially_ since his lips brushed her skin as he rested his head on her shoulder.

“Sitting for that long was hell,” she sighed, absently rubbing at her stiff legs in an attempt to distract herself from the sensation of his mouth.

“It gets easier over time.” His words were vibrations that she could feel, pressed against him as she was.

“I don’t think I would ever get used to that,” she murmured. “I’m as stiff as a board.”

“And you wanted to sit like that for another few hours,” Adrien teased, then let his voice drop as he lifted his head from her shoulder and pressed his lips to the shell of her ear. “It’s okay, I’ll rub you down.”

This game he was playing was immensely torturous, but Marinette was more than happy to play along. She reached for the bow-tied belt of her fluffy robe and tugged on it, letting it unravel before shrugging the robe from her shoulders.

She could almost hear his heart thundering in his chest. Moments passed, his gaze pressing down hot on her skin like an iron brand.

“Wh-what are you waiting for?” she whispered, cursing the way the line slipped out before she could conjure a properly silky tone.

“Y-you really want me to?” Adrien sounded startled, tripping over his words in an endearing way that made her heart ache.

“You don’t have to!” Marinette blurted. “I just— you offered and I want to but you don’t have to if you’re, ah, uncomfortable and…” She snapped her mouth closed, feeling the overwhelming urge to bury her burning face in her hands.

“I, uh, just meant— I mean if you want I can, I want to, but I was just—” He let out a breath that ghosted warm and damp against her skin. “I will, if you want me to.”

“I, um. I want you to. Only if you want to!”

Marinette kept herself still as Adrien lifted his hands to her shoulders and just let them rest there, their warmth seeping in to guard against the cold of her apartment. Then he exhaled before kneading her skin in a way that nearly coaxed a moan from her lips.

His fingers dug firmly but gently into her muscles, making her breath catch in her throat. His hands moved slowly, as if to give her time to reject his ministrations if she changed her mind.

Marinette sighed quietly and found herself leaning into his warmth, her head against his shoulder.

“Mari.” His voice was tentative.

“Hmm?”

“Can you sit up a little?”

“Oh! Sorry!” Marinette sat up abruptly, flushing.

“You’re okay, I just couldn’t move my hands.” From the odd note in his voice, she could tell he was blushing.

Marinette twisted enough to kiss his nose over her shoulder, and readjusted herself on his lap. “Good?”

Adrien smiled, his hands resuming their kneading. “You should know that I definitely give massages everyday and I’ve done this many times before.”

She laughed. “Adrien Agreste: model, physicist, secret superhero, and secret masseuse. Any other secrets you need to tell me, Chaton?”

“Nope, you officially know everything about me.” He nuzzled her neck lightly, hands drifting light and slow down her spine, as if there were words written in the ridges meant for him to decipher.

Marinette found herself gripping his thighs, her breathing growing uneven under his touch. His roaming ministrations were tentative and light at first, but steadily gained confidence as time passed.

She wanted to touch him. She wanted to know what it felt like to have his soft skin beneath her needle-pricked and ink-stained fingers. She wanted to run the golden strands of his hair through her fingers and she wanted his taste on her lips.

“Mari,” he whispered quietly, his voice strained.

His voice brought her from her reverie, making her aware of the iron grip she had on his thighs. “Sorry!” she said as she hastily removed her hands from his person, very much wanting to dissolve into dust in that moment.

“You, ah, don’t have to stop completely.” He was blushing again, his cheek close enough for her to feel the heat of it on her neck. “I-It doesn’t feel bad.”

“Adrien,” she said firmly.

“Yes, my Lady?”

“Do you want me to… to touch you?” she murmured.

He hesitated, his breath hot on her skin. “Yes.”

Her heart fluttered as she placed her hands a little farther up his thigh. “Is— is this okay?”

“Perfect,” he sighed, his hands still working magic on her skin. They were working at her waist now, his long fingers curved around her ribs while his thumbs rubbed slow circles into her back.

Marinette tentatively squeezed his thighs, silently wishing she could get rid of his jeans. Her iron grip returned, her eyes fluttering closed as his hands just barely brushed the underside of her breast. Electricity sparked under her skin from the touch, but the moment ended as Adrien hastily withdrew his hands from her.

“Sorry— sorry, Mari, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it was an accident I was just—”

“It’s okay.” Marinette leaned against him, pulling her robe back around herself and turning so she could look up at him. The bright pink of his cheeks certainly matched her own, and she sighed.

“Do you… want to stop?” he murmured quietly.

She shook her head and buried her burning face in his shirt. “No, I just— want you to be comfortable and you just don’t seem—”

Adrien's lips brushed her forehead. “I want this. I want you.”

“Are you sure?” she murmured.

“I don’t...” Adrien sighed. “I’ve never done anything like this before, with anyone. And I don’t want to mess it up and I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“Nothing you do can make me uncomfortable, kitten.” Marinette lifted her head, raising hand to his cheek.

“I love you, _Purr_ incess.” He quirked a crooked grin and winked, tilting his head so he could kiss her palm.

“I take it back. That, that makes me uncomfortable. No puns allowed,” she laughed.

“Mari, wanting me means you want the whole package: Adrien, Chat Noir, and all the puns.” Adrien nuzzled her palm, grin softening to a small smile on his lips.

Marinette sighed theatrically. “I suppose tolerating the puns is a small price to pay if I get you with them.”

Gentle lips pressed to hers as Adrien gathered her up in his arms. She slipped her fingers into his hair, gently scratching behind his ears.

“Chaton,” she murmured quietly against his lips.

“Mmm?”

“Take me to my room?” She blushed.

Adrien exhaled on a shaky breath. "Gladly," he whispered into the kiss, lifting her into the air without ever letting their lips part. Marinette hummed her approval.

And didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I promise I promise I didn't mean for this to be like a smut tease or whatever I totally meant to shove it all in this chapter but it was taking me forever because, one, I write parts of chapters in study hall and I obviously couldn't do that this time and two, I write my chapters sitting two feet away from my mother and I just couldn't bring myself to write this by her
> 
> Also thank you to all the people who have shared their sexperiences with me I promise the knowledge you've given me will be put to good use in the next chapter which will definitely 100% be the last
> 
> Tumblr: reyxa.tumblr.com


	17. Chapter XVII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's here!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry this is sO late I'm aWFUL but first I was just not feeling well like physically or emotionally or mentally and school but then it was summer and then tHIS CHAPTER WAS REALLY HARD OKAY APPRECIATE YOUR SIN WRITERS BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY SO HARD TO WRITE
> 
> but [mirthalia](http://mirthaculous.tumblr.com/) is the best and was sO ENCOURAGING AND HELPFUL GET YOURSELF A MIRTHALIA OKAY EVERYONE NEEDS ONE 
> 
> and thank you to all the people who messaged me and helped me out tHANK YOU
> 
> Okay I'll stop there will be more at the end 
> 
> take your pants off, grab a cup of tea, play umbrella scene music, and enjoy!

It turned out that navigating an apartment while painfully aroused and carrying your girlfriend in both arms was harder than it looked. Being infatuated and giddily in love didn't help matters, either.

Adrien was too busy trying to keep his lips attached to Marinette’s to really pay attention to where he was going. He felt her feet knock into the wood of the door, sending it flying to smash against the wall. The sound startled them, jerking them apart, and he winced and prayed the neighbors hadn't heard.

With a bit of maneuvering, he managed to get the door shut before gently getting into bed. The quiet click of the door falling into place seemed to change the atmosphere of the room.

Marinette was still clinging to him, her hair lightly tickling his arm as he held her. She was staring up at him with an intensity that Chat was now incredibly familiar with.

Her lips were on his, light and careful but _heated_. He had always imagined these kisses as sloppy and passionate and fast-moving, one thing after another. This kiss was passionate but tentative, illustrating both their feelings and leaving room in case the other wanted more or less.

“Marinette,” Adrien sighed, as she shifted slowly to face him and kiss him properly. He wrapped his arms around her waist. This was easy. This was something he knew, something that wasn’t toeing unknown areas.

“Mmm?” She was so close that he could feel every breath against his skin.

“I don’t know where or how or when or what or— really anything at all.” Embarrassed, he pressed his face to her shoulder, the fluffy robe tickling his nose.

“I don’t either.” Marinette's blush deepened to a flustered red, hot against his cheek, and he could feel her fingers resting light in his hair. “Let's just take it one step at a time, okay?”

“I love you, Mari.” Turning his head to brush a kiss against her cheek, he caught sight of her small smile.

“I love you, kitten.” The words fell light and easy from her lips before they sought his again.

Her mouth touched his in a light, tentative brush. Cool, slender fingers slipped from his hair to his shoulders, lightly brushing the hairs at the back of his neck.

“Mari?” he mumbled as chills ran down his spine. “Your fingers are _freezing_.”

Marinette huffed quietly before a light smile tugged at her lips. “You, uh, could… warm them up for me?”

Adrien's heart jump started, banging in his chest.

 _I’ve done this before, calm down,_ he told himself, sternly. He was getting too ahead of himself.

Taking her left hand by the wrist, he lifted it to his lips. Her cool skin was pleasant against his mouth. He skimmed his lips lightly across her knuckles, eyes fixed to Marinette's face. She was blushing lightly, her lips parted in a way that didn’t do anything to ease the tightness of his pants.

Adrien kissed along her fingertips, then down to her palm, letting his tongue flick across the center. He heard her breath hitch in her throat as he kissed along her wrist, felt her other hand toying with the collar of his shirt, and savoured both sensations.

He released her hand, and Marinette slid it up to rest on his shoulder as he brought her other hand to his lips. “Warm enough?”

“If I say no, will you keep going?” she murmured.

“Yes,” he laughed quietly, nuzzling her hand.

“Then no.”

Adrien laughed again, pleased and breathless, and lowered her hand from his mouth to kiss her. Her tongue skimmed the seam of his lips in return, asking them to part, and he complied, allowing her to explore his mouth as she wished. Sparks rushed down his spine as her now-warm fingers trailed lightly down his chest.

“Minou,” she whispered against his lips.

“Hmm?”

“Your shirt.” Marinette tugged on the hem.

He couldn't help a mischievous smile. “What about it?”

“Can I… take it off?” Her cheeks were hot where they brushed against his. Adrien nuzzled closer to better feel her blush.

“Please.”

Marinette drew back just far enough to rid him of his shirt. Adrien lifted his arms to help her, holding his breath at the way her fingertips brushed his skin. Her warm blue eyes roamed his torso once it was out of the way. “Can I—”

“Yes,” he blurted.

Her laugh was breathy. “You don’t even know what I was gonna ask.”

“I don’t need to. You can do anything you want.” Adrien hugged her close, feeling curves hidden only by a layer of terrycloth, and swallowed. Her dark hair was soft and sweet-smelling against his nose. “You don’t need to ask.”

“I don’t want to do something you don’t want,” she whispered.

“I want everything you want, Princess,” he whispered back, lips brushing the skin beneath her ear in an almost-kiss.

Her breath hit his shoulder in a content sigh, her hands resting on his back. “I love you, Adrien.”

~

Marinette was hyper-aware of everything that was going on. It was as if her skin had become ten times more sensitive, amplifying Adrien's every touch, which really didn't help stem the slick feeling that pooled between her legs.

She kept herself seated firmly in Adrien’s lap because she was 100% sure that if she moved, she would leave a wet patch behind on his jeans. She was pretty sure she'd die if she had to explain that.

The plan was to get him distracted enough for her to leave his lap without him noticing. Plan B was to rip off his jeans before he became aware of it.

Both plans were a-okay in her mind.

Both plans were relegated to the background, however, when Adrien's magical lips trailed down her neck in a way that surely left her marked up and down. Marinette couldn’t bring herself to mind. She desperately wanted to mark him, too.

The thought made her shudder. She wanted to write her name on his skin with a mark that she could see whenever he walked by. To leave tender spots that would serve as a reminder of this moment for days afterwards. God knew she already had plenty herself by this point.

“I’m going to flip us over, okay?” Adrien's mouth formed the words against her skin.

Marinette nodded, her chin nearly banging into his head. It made her smile, recalling the day their lives had first crashed together. She remembered the red on his chin that her head had caused, and the headache she had from his pointed chin that lasted hours.

Adrien carefully rolled them over, laying her out on the bed so he was draped on top of her. The delicious weight of his body pressed her into the mattress while his lips and tongue worked almost feverishly at her skin.

Even with the change in position, they were still in familiar territory. They had made out on the couch and her bed before. This was an area of her skin that he was well acquainted with touching — which meant he was good, which meant he knew exactly where to touch to drive her up the wall.

Adrien's tongue laved over the place where her pulse beat steadily, coaxing a moan from her lips. She ran her fingers down his chest, taking great pleasure in finally being able to touch the grooves in his skin that she had painted all those months ago.

“Adrien…” Marinette blushed, more nervous than self-conscious, though she had nothing to be nervous about.

“Yes, my Lady?” he murmured, not pausing his attentions.

“Robe.” Marinette reached down between them to the tie, feeling his weight lift from her just enough to let her tug the bow apart.

“Mari, is it okay if I…?” Lifting his head, Adrien slid his hands into her robe. His cheeks were flushed and his touch tingled on the bare skin of her waist.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she nodded. 

She let Adrien gently drag the robe from her shoulders and slip it out from under her, leaving her completely bare on the covers. This time she didn't feel cold in the slightest.

Like the painting session moments earlier, Marinette had to fight the urge to cross her arms over her chest while Adrien stared at her.

He sighed quietly. “It’s not fair, Marinette.”

“What?” She stared up at him, confused.

“It’s not fair that you’re so _flawless_.” This time his sigh was dramatic.

Marinette felt her cheeks grow hot. “Flawless?”

“ _Flawless_.” Beneath his grin, she could see his cheeks darken too, and his blush helped her relax.

“You missed a perfectly good pun opportunity, Chat.” Smiling, she leaned up to kiss his nose. “Flawless and not 'paw-less'? You’re really out of it today.”

He laughed. The sound was like cheerful bells ringing. “You’re the most perfect person in existence.”

_Me? Perfect? Have you seen your face?_

“I have.” Adrien smiled and nudged her nose with his. “Though I don’t see the correlation between those two statements.”

 _Oh my god, I said that out loud._ Marinette bit her lip. “Stop talking like a math professor and just kiss me.”

His smile became a grin, easing the erratic thumping of her heart. As his lips met hers again, he placed his hands solidly on her hips, though this time there was no cloth between his skin and hers. His thumb traced tentative circles into her skin, making her back arch as she drew in a breath.

Her palms skimmed his ribs as Adrien’s lips trailed down her neck a second time. When his tongue skimmed her collarbone, it sent tingles down her whole body. She hummed and let her hands travel up his torso, only to pause as a quiet sound escaped his lips.

“Marinette,” he mouthed her name against her shoulder.

Curiosity sparked as she brushed her fingers over his nipple once more.

The same noise left his lips.

Heat flared through her like a wildfire as she shimmied down to gain better access, her lips brushing his skin. “Adrien,” she whispered, willing the bashfulness in her tone to disappear.

“Princess?” His voice was breathy as it floated down to her. The kind of breathy that made her toes tingle and her heart jump.

“Tell me if you… don’t like this,” she murmured, replacing her fingers with her mouth.

“Mm… _ah!_ ” Adrien's chest tightened beneath her lips as he sharply sucked in a lungful of air and let it out on a cry.

Those sounds would be the death of her. The taste of his skin did nothing to reduce the liquid heat collecting between her thighs. It didn’t help that each brush of her mouth earned a new cry — low, wanton mewls that shot right to her belly, though she was sure he'd pout if he ever heard her describe them in such a cat-like way.

Adrien's skin tasted clean, very subtly bitter like lingering soap, with the slightest sharp taste of sweat beneath that. She let her teeth gently graze his nipple, startling as his hips rocked in response.

“Marinette,” he hissed as she went on to trace the bud with her tongue. She would have smiled with satisfaction at his reaction had her mouth not been otherwise occupied.

Adrien’s hands roamed her body as she continued to skim her tongue across his nipple. She squeaked into his chest when his fingers clenched, squeezing her ass. Determined to get him back, she applied her attention in earnest.

~

Adrien had decided at this point that Marinette definitely derived pleasure from seeing him _squirm_.

Pleasure racked his body in waves, shutting down his thoughts as Marinette’s magical mouth worked him like a knotted cherry stem.

Her lips left his nipple only to toy with the other seconds later.

It was constant throes of pleasure, he could feel pressure building as release was on the horizon.

“Marinette,” he managed to croak past clenched teeth, “s-stop.”

She stopped immediately, sitting up so her butt was planted against his still-clothed hips. “Was I hurting you—?”

“I was getting close,” he panted, his hands against her waist. He gently flipped their positions so he was lying over her body. “And it’s my turn.”

“No such things as ‘turns’, kitten,” she said coyly, cheeks colored. She laced her fingers in his hair, pressing her lips to his.

He found himself groaning into her kiss as his hands skimmed the underside of her breast.

She whined, spine arching as she pushed her chest into his hands.

“Patience,” he murmured.

“I hate you,” she mouthed against his lips.

Adrien grinned, his hand shifting to cover her breast completely. “Is this what you want, my Lady?” he purred, surprising himself with his lack of bashfulness.

“Mm…” Her lashes fluttered shut as her hands trailed down his chest.

His heart thrummed happily at her positive response to his near-fumbling exploration. He blushed, finding himself wondering what he was supposed to do from here.

“Adrien,” she sighed contentedly.

“My Lady?”

“Touch me.”

Taking a deep breath, he pressed his lips to her neck as he lightly trailed the tip of his finger around her nipple.

“Ah— Chat!” she called, the use of his other name not at all keeping the strain of his erection against his jeans.

Deciding Little Adrien could wait, Adrien flicked his thumb across her nipple, rewarded by her hips jerking into his.

“S-Sorry, I can’t help—” she panted.

“No,” his voice was gravelly. Clearing his throat, he continued, “I like it.”

“I didn’t— ask,” she whispered, voice breaking.

“You don’t need to,” he reassured, skimming his thumb across her bud again. “I didn’t ask either.”

Even wrapped up in the throes of pleasure, she managed to roll her eyes. “I asked you to touch me.”

He found himself unable to bite back his grin as he dragged his lips down her neck to latch into her collarbone. Marinette arched under him in response, her chest pressed to his bare skin, somehow making his jeans even more uncomfortable.

As if sensing his discomfort, her hands slid to toy with the button of his jeans. Adrien’s lips parted against her sweet skin as her hands grew far too close to his member. 

He trailed his kisses down her skin, his lips following the curve of her breast before his bottom lip collided with her bud. He gazed up at her, heart fluttering at the sight of her head thrown back, chest rising and falling with her heavy breaths. “You okay?” he murmured.

“Don’t stop,” Marinette whispered.

“No problem,” he murmured to himself, a smile tugging at his lips as she snorted quietly.

Shoving his nerves aside, Adrien experimentally peppered kisses around her nipple. A quiet sound followed, then her nimble fingers were working the button on his jeans.

Adrien _groaned_ as the pressure fractionally washed away. 

Failing to kick his jeans down his legs, Marinette sighed frustratedly as she plopped down on the bed. “Adrien,” she nearly whined. “Help.”

“My pleasure,” he sighed in relief, kicking his jeans the rest of the way down.

It didn’t seem to be enough for Marinette as her fingers slowly slid into the waistband of his boxers. His pulse picked up its pace as he blushed. She traced the obvious outline of his length lightly, very nearly shoving Adrien to the brink. Looking up at her, her pupils were blown wide, her lips parted, her cheeks colored.

He returned his gaze to the expanse of heated skin beneath him, desperately aching to kiss her. Adrien pressed his lips to the underside of her breast, lashes fluttering shut as his tongue swiped out to taste her.

Her hips jerked into his, forcing a groan past his lips. She let out a sound of frustration. “Chat.”

“Buginette?” he breathed, still more or less preoccupied with kissing a line down her torso.

“C-can I take off…” Hands slipped past the waistband of his boxers.

 _Yes, fuck yes, please, oh god._ Adrien cleared his throat. “Ah— um— s-sure!” 

_Nailed it._

Pressing her lips to his, she tugged the garment down, successfully ridding him of his last article of clothing.

She was panting and Adrien found himself mesmerized by the way her chest rose and fell, pressing against his own skin.

“Adrien,” she whispered, her hands trailing down his chest.

“ _Touch me,_ ” he blurted. He nearly smacked himself as he wondered what happened to *think before you speak.*

Marinette didn't seem to mind. She slid her fingers down, trailing down his chest. She paused at the ‘v’ carved into his hips before pausing.

Her explorations continued, her fingers trailing Adrien’s thighs. He could hear her suck in a deep breath before her fingers lightly slid over his length.

Adrien’s heart stopped. His hands stopped. His breathing stopped. His brain stopped.

It was as if the contact of her skin on his member had thrown out his brain’s instructions on how to perform basic tasks like breathing. And moving.

Her slender hand was lightly stroking along his length, not quite enough to send him over the edge, but damn was he getting close.

“Marinette,” he groaned as her hand moved to circle him.

She smiled against his skin before dragging her hand up his member, applying gentle pressure.

“My Lady,” he breathed. “I can’t come—”

She stopped. “What do you mean?”

Words coupled with a tone that expressed whining bubbled in his throat before confusion dissolved them. “Huh?”

“You can’t come?” her eyes were wide.

“ _No!_ I mean I _can_ but if I do we can’t— I won’t—” he blushed.

She stared at him with blue _blue_ eyes before dissolving into giggles.

Adrien had never been more confused.

“S-sorry!” she blurted between bouts of laughter. “I thought you meant that you can’t at all!”

He was completely baffled. Here he was, being straddled by the girl he had loved since he was in collège, and she was _giggling_.

“Marinette,” he sighed affectionately, pressing his lips to her collarbone.

“Sorry, sorry.” She paused her laughter, a bright smile left on her face. “Where were we?”

“I was about to burst everywhere when you started laughing about my ejaculation abilities,” he hummed, kissing a line down her torso.

“I love you.” She grinned.

~

Marinette felt like she was beaming.

Their laughter eased the build up between them but Adrien was steadily building it up again. His lips were occupied with the underside of her breast as his fingers gently explored her expanse of skin.

She sighed as his fingers traced her belly button slowly before continuing down, down, down.

He flipped them over, his lips trailing down her skin. Marinette shoved her fingers into his blond locks, letting them slide through his soft tresses as he kissed his way down her midriff.

His green eyes locked on hers as he tongued a circle around her belly button. The image sent heat like crackling electricity down her spine.

“Marinette,” he started.

“Please,” she croaked out, knowing exactly where his roaming lips were headed.

“Please what?” he lifted his lips from her skin, his grip on her hips loosening as he gazed up at her innocently.

Her tongue and throat were suddenly coated in sandpaper. “I _will_ finish on my own,” she managed to threaten.

“Marinette, I would give you what you want if only you would tell me.” He blinked those green eyes innocently but she could see the smile tugging at his lips.

She blushed, chewing her lower lip. “I want…”

He nodded encouragingly.

She nearly rolled her eyes. She would have had she been less flustered. “I want your _mouth_ to…”

“Yes?” he prompted, a smile on his lips.

She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning. “Shut up and eat me out, Chaton.”

Marinette could feel his lips pressing against her hipbone. “I thought you’d never ask," he grinned against her.

“Did you miss the ‘shut up’ part?” she teased, her blush subsiding.

“It’s called ‘selective hearing’,” he mumbled, his lips trailing closer to where she wanted him.

“Oh really, well— ah!” her thought completely disappeared into a gasp as his lips connected with her folds.

“What was that you were saying?” his lips shifted against her, pleasure rocking her body.

“Y-you know, I— ah— l-like your teasing much better when it’s— mmn— h-happening between my legs.”

His tongue swiped across her folds experimentally, sending her gasping. “I have to agree. Now hush.”

Marinette bit down on her lip, trying to keep her hips from jerking under his experimental touches. She managed to keep herself reigned as he peppered kisses along her folds but she found herself letting loose as his lips found her clit. A whine bubbled into her throat as her hips bucked in response. Marinette could feel the tip of his tongue slowly toying with the bundle of nerves as her breaths came out as pants.

She could almost feel him gaining confidence as his tongue slid down to her core then back up to brush her clit.

“Marinette, please tell me if you don’t like anythi—”

“Don’t stop,” she breathed. “Just _don’t stop._ ”

“As you wish, my Lady,” he grinned before gently returning his lips to her skin.

Marinette watched, eyes wide, as he positively lapped at her arousal like a cat with a saucer of cream. She couldn’t find it in herself to pretend like it wasn’t doing it for her.

As Adrien’s tongue ventured back to massage her bundle of nerves, Marinette could feel his finger gently making its way inside her.

At this point moans were filling her throat, littered with the occasional breathy exhalation of his name. “ _Chat._ ”

“Hm?” he paused, not removing himself from her.

“Another.” She blushed.

He nodded, returning to his actions. He gently eased another finger into her, Marinette’s hips bucking involuntarily in response.

The constant in and out of his fingers coupled with his tongue working all sorts of magic on her sent her climbing the horizon like the sun’s daily trek.

“ _Adrien—!_ ” She pushed his name past her lips as she reached her zenith and began crashing back down to the horizon. She felt like she was washed in shades of pinks and oranges and golds as her sun set to reveal the moon.

“Princess, Marinette, I need to be— ah, _shit._ ” Adrien sounded frantic, swearing under his breath in a rough voice as he dug through her bedside drawer.

She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she realized why exactly he was digging through her things. “Adrien.”

“I’m looking,” he mumbled absently.

“Chat.”

“Ladybug, I can’t find it.” His voice cracked.

She let out a breath, a smile on her face. “Mon minou,” she cooed. “Just breathe for a second.”

“Marinette, I'm looking for a condom,” he blurted, the green in his eyes a shade that displayed his defeat. “And I can’t find any.”

“Breathe,” she whispered, taking his face in her hands.

“Do you need a break? I’ll get you water as soon as I find the goddamn—”

She kissed him, affection thrumming a melody in her chest. He relaxed, his arms coming around her waist.

Marinette pulled away, staring into his eyes. “I have one.”

He sighed in relief. “You’re always prepared.”

She stroked his cheek absently. “Are _you_ prepared?”

“Obviously not because I just frantically searched for— oh. You meant…” He blushed. “I am. But I’m not if you aren’t. We already did a lot.”

“I want you.” She blushed, his intense gaze too much for her.

“You’re sure?”

Reaching into her pillow, she drew out the foil package. She ripped it open and drew the condom out. 

Adrien laughed. “I love you, Princess.”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him before tossing him the condom. “Put that on, dumbass. I’m not ready for kittens yet.”

“Yet.” He winked at her as he rolled on the condom. "Promise you’re ready?”

“Go slow,” she breathed.

“One step at a time.” He grinned.

She smiled. “Whenever you’re ready, Chat.”

He adjusted himself above her. Gripping the base of his length, he eased himself into her.

The first thing Marinette noticed was that Adrien’s dick, ‘Little Adrien’ as he called it, was not too ‘little’. The sensation of Adrien inside her wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but more... different.

“Tight,” he murmured against her skin.

“If it’s not comfortable, we can stop.” She ran a hand through his hair.

“No, no. It’s really good. I mean! It’s fine! Are you comfortable?” She could tell he was blushing.

“I just… need a moment,” she whispered.

“Take your time.”

~

Adrien was positive he couldn’t reign himself for much longer. Just the thought of being inside her nearly brought him to a climax. Actually _being_ inside her? Forget it, he was a goner.

“Adrien?” Her voice was small.

“My Lady?”

“ _Move._ ”

He tried not to express his relief. He lifted his hips from hers and gently eased himself in again, the slow pace for both their sakes. If he wanted to last more than two minutes, he’d have to go slow.

Marinette and Little Adrien, however, had a different plan. Her hips began meeting his and their pace quickened in turn. With every crash of their hips, he was brought closer and closer to the edge until he was hanging off it by a finger.

Marinette was voicing a string of quiet gasps like a tempo to his moaning of her name.

“Marinette,” he breathed as her hips crashed into his.

Her response was a quiet moan.

That single moan seemed to throw him over the edge.

His climax was an adrenaline rush that rivalled racing through Paris with her on nightly patrol.

Adrien collapsed against her, completely spent, unable to draw on any energy. “Marinette, that was—”

Her pursed lips and eyes lit with humor left him pausing.

“Are you— no, no, no.” He buried his face in her shoulder, groaning.

“What?” He could feel her fingers in her hair, lightly stroking. A purr bubbled in his throat despite his crushing embarrassment.

“You didn’t finish,” he groaned around it. “I’m the worst boyfriend ever.”

Marinette laughed quietly. “That’s a blatant lie.”

“Marinette, I came before you.” He was shaking sleep from his head. He would not roll over and fall asleep.

“Not all girls come from, ah… penetration.” She blushed. “Alya told me she didn’t the first time.”

“That’s because it was with Nino,” he grumbled. “Oh my god, I’m worse than _Nino_.”

“Really, kitty, it’s fine. You can always make it up to me next time. And I already came, remember?” He could feel her chest vibrate as she chuckled.

“…Next time?” Adrien grinned.

Marinette kissed him sweetly. “Shh. Sleep.”

“If you insist.”

~

Marinette’s face was comfortably smushed into her soft pillow when her alarm began screaming in her ears. She groaned groggily, arm flailing until it found purchase on the little button. Unfortunately, her flailing had some casualties.

Adrien groaned as she sprawled horizontally across his body to reach the alarm. She shifted, pressing her face into his shoulder as his arms came around her.

“Good morning, Princess~” Adrien whispered, his voice heavy with sleep. She could feel his hand rising to bury in her hair.

“It’s not morning,” she mumbled. “It’s sleep time.”

“It can be both.” His laugh was quiet rumblings that she could feel more than hear.

“Shhhhh.” Marinette pressed her lips to his shoulder. “Sleep,” she mumbled.

Adrien adjusted the covers so they lay as a warm mass of sheets that just barely left her eyes peeking out.

With his steady breath lulling her, she felt herself drift off again.

~

Adrien was an idiot. A real, actual idiot.

Because a thousand months ago, he had compared Marinette to the stars. She was a star, barely visible but beautiful to look at. And he had called his Lady the moon. She was something dreamers pointed out to others with awe in their eyes.

Marinette and Ladybug just couldn’t be put together in Adrien’s mind. They were too different, but at the same time perfectly alike.

But, oh, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Marinette _was_ Ladybug. His Princess was his Lady. And together, she was the whole night sky. The whole night sky that was as dark as her hair with stars and galaxies and planets as bright as her eyes. She was the whole universe, _his_ whole universe.

Adrien used to think that maybe he could be the sun. He was the sun to his Lady’s moon. But the reality was that he was just a human who was absolutely enchanted with the night sky. He was just a person who stared up at the stars from rooftops and wished more than anything that he could be up there, with the night sky and all her undiscovered galaxies.

He sighed, knowing that if he voiced any of his musings to Marinette, she would probably laugh. Laugh and kiss him with cheeks dusted in the color of roses.

Adrien looked at her now, a sigh leaving his lips as she slept contentedly draped over him. He slid his hands from her hair, lightly brushing her shoulder and down her arm, to lace his fingers in hers.

She shifted, her sleepy blue eyes gazing up at him.

“What happened to sleep?” Adrien blushed under her gaze, a smile tugging at his lips.

She shook her head, shifting from his body to laying on her side, curled against him.

He turned, sliding his arms around her waist as her hands held his jaw. Marinette kissed him lightly, neither of them minding the stale morning breath between them.

“I love you, Adrien,” she sighed, the words turning his insides to mush as always.

Adrien peppered kisses over her face. Her smile was lazy but impossibly bright for almost 7 in the morning. “I love you, Ladybug,” he murmured.

“I love you, Chat Noir.” She touched her forehead to his, her breath washing over him pleasantly.

“I love you, Marinette.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so YEAH THAT'S THE END thank you for reading this fic I didn't expect it to get this popular tbh and I'm so happy about it thanK YOU
> 
> also another big huge thank you to [mirthalia](http://mirthaculous.tumblr.com/) for beING SUPER PATIENT WHILE I STRUGGLED WITH THIS CHAPTER AND BEING SUCH AN AMAZING PERSON
> 
> and thank you [Ash](http://frostedpuffs.tumblr.com/) for being super encouraging and just??? amazing??? in general????
> 
> and [bullysquadess](http://bullysquadess.tumblr.com/) for existing
> 
> and Gwen and Mary and everyone who survived my complaining about this fic
> 
> and the miracuchat for existing
> 
> and you!! You read this fic! I appreciate you!! Thank you!!
> 
> If you want more of me I'm writing a [flower shop AU](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7130945/chapters/16192397) and you can follow me on [tumblr](http://reyxa.tumblr.com)!!!


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